Medical Dictionary Online

Eucommiaceae

A plant family of the order Eucommiales, subclass Hamamelidae, class Magnoliopsida (some botanists have classified this in the order Hamamelidales or Urticales). Eucomia is an elmlike tree of central and eastern China. Leaves are alternate; deciduous flowers are solitary and unisexual and lack petals and sepals. The male flowers have 6 to 10 stamens and female flowers have one ovary of two carpels, one of which aborts during development so the fruit (a dry, winged structure) contains only one seed. The latex is a source of RUBBER. Tochu tea is an aqueous extract of Eucommia ulmoides leaves and a popular beverage in Japan. (Mutat Res 1997 Jan 15;388(1):7-20).