Thuja standishii

Thuja standishii (Japanese thuja; nezuko, kurobe) is a species of thuja, an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae. It is native to southern Japan, where it occurs on the islands of Honshū and Shikoku. It is a medium-sized tree, reaching 20–35 m tall and with a trunk up to 1 m diameter.

Thuja standishii
Thuja standishii foliage and cones
upper side left, under side right
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Cupressaceae
Genus: Thuja
Species:
T. standishii
Binomial name
Thuja standishii
(Gordon) Carr.

The foliage forms in flat sprays with scale-like leaves 2–4 mm long, matte green above, and with narrow white stomatal bands below. The cones are oval, yellow-green ripening red-brown, 6–12 mm long and 4–5 mm broad (opening to 8 mm broad), with 6–10 overlapping scales.

It is an important timber tree in Japan, grown in forestry plantations for its durable, waterproof, attractively scented wood.

There is some evidence that extracts of T. standishii have biological activity. It contains a compound called standishinal which has shown relatively potent effects on the enzyme aromatase. It acts as an inhbitor, thus decreasing the synthesis of Estradiol in the human body. This compound has been used in research and derivatives of it have shown even stronger inhibition of Aromatase.

References
  1. Carter, G. & Farjon, A. (2013). "Thuja standishii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T42264A2968225. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42264A2968225.en.

Further reading
  • Ohtsu, Hironori; Iwamoto, Manabu; Ohishi, Hirofumi; Matsunaga, Shunyo; Tanaka, Reiko (1999). "Standishinal, a novel carbon skeletal diterpene from the bark of Thuja standishii (Gord.) Carr". Tetrahedron Letters. 40 (35): 6419–6422. doi:10.1016/S0040-4039(99)01191-0.
  • Katoh, Takahiro; Akagi, Taichi; Noguchi, Chie; Kajimoto, Tetsuya; Node, Manabu; Tanaka, Reiko; Nishizawa (Née Iwamoto), Manabu; Ohtsu, Hironori; Suzuki, Noriyuki; Saito, Koichi (2007). "Synthesis of dl-standishinal and its related compounds for the studies on structure–activity relationship of inhibitory activity against aromatase". Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry. 15 (7): 2736–2748. doi:10.1016/j.bmc.2007.01.031. PMID 17287126.
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