Daphniphyllum calycinum
{{Short description|Species of shrub in Daphniphyllaceae family from Vietnam and China}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = 牛耳楓 Daphniphyllum calycinum -香港青松觀 Tuen Mun, Hong Kong- (9227115971).jpg
|status = LC
|status_system = IUCN3.1
|genus = Daphniphyllum
|species = calycinum
|authority = Benth.
|synonyms =
- Daphniphyllum calleryanum {{small|Baill.}}
- Daphniphyllum gaudichaudianum {{small|Baill.}}
}}
Daphniphyllum calycinum is a species of shrubby plant in the family Daphniphyllaceae. It is found in northern Vietnam and southeastern China. It is used in biodiesel and in lubrication, soap-making and Chinese medicine.
Taxonomy
The species is in section Lunata of Daphniphyllum, along with D. griffithianum and D. majus.{{cite journal |last1=Tang |first1=M.-S. |last2=Yang |first2=Y.-P. |last3=Sheue |first3=C.-R. |title=Comparative morphology on leaves of Daphniphyllum (Daphniphyllaceae) |journal=Blumea |date=2009 |volume=54 |pages=63–8 |doi=10.3767/000651909X474104 |url=http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/record/524761 }}
"[T]he premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century", George Bentham (1800–84), English, described this plant in 1861 in his publication Flora Hongkongensis; a description of the flowering plants and ferns of the island of Hongkong{{cite web |title=Daphniphyllum calycinum Benth., Fl. Hongk. 316 (1861). |url=https://www.ipni.org/n/344216-1 |website=International Plant Name Index (IPNI) |publisher=The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=6 March 2021}}{{cite book |last1=Bentham |first1=George |title=Flora Hongkongensis; a description of the flowering plants and ferns of the island of Hongkong. |date=1861 |publisher=Lovell Reeve |location=Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/18413209#page/9/mode/1up |access-date=6 March 2021}}
Description
This species grows as a shrub some 1-5-4m tall. The grayish-brown branches are sparsely lenticillate. The petioles are some 4 to 8 cm long. The obovate to obovate-elliptic leaf blades are 12–16 by 4–9 cm in size, they are chartaceous, glaucous/hairy and are inconspicuously papillate on lower surface; broadly cuneate leaf base, slightly reflexed margins and obtuse to rounded apex, mucronate; 8-11 pairs of later veins are visible on upper surface, prominent on lower. Male flowers have an 8–10 cm pedicel and a discoid calyx with 3 or 4 broadly triangular lobes, 9 or 10 stamens some 3 mm long with very short filaments, oblong laterally-compressed anthers, connective exserted. Female flowers have a 5–6 mm pedicel, broadly-triangular calyx-loves about 1.5mm in size, ellipsoidal ovary 1.5–2 mm in size, very short style, 2 recurved stigmas. The Infructescence/fruiting head is some 4–5 cm in size, densely arranged with ovoid-ellipsoidal, tubercalate{{typo help inline|reason=similar to tuberculate|date=October 2022}}, glaucous drupes some 7 by 4 mm in size, with persistent calyx and style branches. Flowering occurs from April to June, while fruiting is from August to November.
Distinguishing characteristics of this species are: the size (9–16 by 4–9 cm) and shape (obovate to obovate-elliptic) of the leaf blade, the obtuse to rounded apex; and size (about 7 mm), dense arrangement and glaucousness of the fruit.{{cite web |last1=Min |first1=Tianlu |last2=Kubitzki |first2=Klaus |title=FOC: Family List: FOC Vol. 11: Daphniphyllaceae: 1. Daphniphyllum Blume, Bijdr. 13: 1152. 1826. |url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=109299 |website=Flora of China |publisher=eFloras.org |access-date=6 March 2021}}
Distribution
Habitat and ecology
The shrub grows in forests and thickets at altitudes of occasionally below 100m but mainly 200-700m.
Daphniphyllum calycinum is present on the degraded hillside shrublands of Hong Kong, it is common there in scrubland and forest edges.{{cite journal |last1=Hau |first1=Billy C.H. |last2=Corlett |first2=Richard T. |title=A survey of trees and shrubs on degraded hillsides in Hong Kong |journal=Memoirs of the Hong Kong Natural History Society |date=2002 |volume=25 |pages=84–94 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236002044 |access-date=6 March 2021}}{{cite book |last1=Hau |first1=Billy C.H. |last2=So |first2=Ken K.Y. |title=17 Using native tree species to restore degraded hillsides in Hong Kong, China |date=2003 |pages=179–90 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266876864 |access-date=6 March 2021}}
Birds disperse the dry-season fruiting seeds.
The follicular micromycete, or sac-fungi, Mycosphaerella fasciculata, in the Mycosphaerellaceae family, uses this species as a host.{{cite journal |last1=Braun |first1=Uwe |last2=Hönig |first2=Lydia |last3=Schwaß |first3=Rowena |title=New records of foliicolous micromycetes from the Chinese Jiangxi Province |journal=Schlechtendalia |date=2016 |volume=30 |pages=1–7 |url=https://public.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/index.php/schlechtendalia/article/download/657/683 |access-date=6 March 2021}}
Conservation
Vernacular names
- vai lá xoan ngược is a name used in Vietnam.
- 牛耳枫, niu er feng, or niu-er-fon, is a name used in China{{cite web |last1=Min |first1=Tianlu |last2=Kubitzki |first2=Klaus |title=FOC: Family List: FOC Vol. 11: Daphniphyllaceae: Daphniphyllum: 7. Daphniphyllum calycinum Bentham, Fl. Hongk. 316. 1861. |url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200012618 |website=Flora of China |publisher=eFloras.org |access-date=6 March 2021}}
Uses
The seeds provide abundant oil that was used in lubrication and to make refined soap, however recently because of its toxicity it is only used in biodiesel.{{cite journal |last1=Wu |first1=Haifeng |last2=and five others |title=Daphniphyllum Alkaloids: Recent Findings on Chemistry and Pharmacology |journal=Planta Med |date=2013 |volume=79 |issue=17 |pages=1589–1598 |doi=10.1055/s-0033-1351024 |pmid=24214836 |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/186678087.pdf |access-date=6 March 2021|doi-access=free }} Roots and leaves are used within Chinese medicine. The plant has many alkaloids and other active ingredients, see for example Wu et al., 2013.