Vernicia fordii
{{Short description|Species of tree}}
{{ speciesbox
| image = Vernicia fordii4.jpg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Vernicia
| species = fordii
| authority = (Hemsl.) Airy Shaw
| synonyms = Aleurites fordii Hemsl.
}}
Vernicia fordii (usually known as the tung tree ({{zh|{{linktext|桐}}}}, tóng) and also as the tung-oil or tungoil tree ({{lang|zh|{{linktext|油桐}}}}), the kalo nut tree, and the China wood-oil tree) is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family Euphorbiaceae.{{cite web |url= https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:358198-1 |title= Vernicia fordii (Hemsl.) Airy Shaw |author= |date=n.d. |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=November 10, 2024}}{{cite web |url= https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/5B48K |title= Vernicia fordii (Hemsl.) Airy Shaw |author= |date=n.d. |website=Catalogue of Life |publisher=Species 2000 |access-date=November 10, 2024}} It is native to southern China, Myanmar, and northern Vietnam.{{ cite web |author1=Stuppy, W. |author2=van Welzen, P. C. |author3=Klinratana, P. |author4=Posa, M. C. T. | publisher = National Herbarium | location = Netherlands | work = Flora of Thailand - Euphorbiaceae | url = http://www.nationaalherbarium.nl/Thaieuph/ThVspecies/ThVernicia.htm | title = 86. Vernicia }} It is a small to medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 20 m tall, with a spreading crown. The bark is smooth and thin, and bleeds latex if cut. The leaves are alternate, simple, 4.5–25 cm long and 3.5–22 cm broad, heart-shaped or with three shallow, maple-like lobes, green above and below, red conspicuous glands at the base of the leaf, and with a 5.5–26 cm long petiole. The flowers are 2.5–3.5 cm diameter, with five pale pink to purple petals with streaks of darker red or purple in the throat; it is monoecious with individual flowers either male or female, but produced together in the inflorescences. The flowers appear before or with the leaves in loose, terminal clusters. The fruit is a hard, woody pear-shaped berry 4–6 cm long and 3–5 cm diameter, containing four or five large, oily seeds; it is green initially, becoming dull brown when ripe in autumn.{{ cite web | publisher = Florida Nature | url = http://www.floridanature.org/species.asp?species=Vernicia_fordii | title = Vernicia fordii - Tung Oil Tree }}
Cultivation and uses
File:Tung Tree Leaf and Berries.jpg
The tung tree is valued for tung oil, which is derived from the seeds of the tree. Tung oil, also called China wood oil or nut oil, has traditionally been used in lamps in China. In modern times, it is used as an ingredient in paint, varnish, and caulk. It is also used as a wood finish for furniture and other wooden objects. After processing to remove gums in the oil, it was also used as a motor fuel.{{ cite web | publisher = Purdue University | work = Handbook of Energy Crops | url = http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Aleurites_fordii.html | title = Aleurites fordii Hemsl. | year = 1997 }} Marco Polo wrote in the 13th century "The Chinese take some lime and chopped hemp, and these they knead together with a certain wood oil; and when the three are thoroughly amalgamated they hold like any glue, and with this mixture they paint their ships".
It has been introduced to Argentina, Malawi, Paraguay, Thailand, and the United States for oil production. Just before World War I, a number of seeds received from the United States Ambassador to China were planted in California, but the young trees could not take hold in the dry climate.
David Fairchild of the Department of Agriculture successfully introduced the tree in 1905 in the U.S. Gulf States from Florida to Texas.{{ cite book | last = Fairchild | first = David | author-link = David Fairchild | title = The World Was My Garden: Travels of a Plant Explorer | url = https://archive.org/details/worldwasmygarden00fair | url-access = registration | publisher = Charles Scribner's Sons | year = 1938 | location = New York | page = [https://archive.org/details/worldwasmygarden00fair/page/216 216] | isbn = 978-0686843108 | lccn = 38027857 }}{{ cite journal | author1 = Brown, K. | author2 = Keeler, W. | title = The History of Tung Oil | journal = Wildland Weeds | volume = 9 | issue = 1 | pages = 4–6 | year = 2005 | url = http://www.se-eppc.org/wildlandweeds/fullpdf/ww_Winter_2005.pdf }} After flourishing from the 1920s to the 1940s the American tung oil industry was wiped out by frost and hurricanes. In 1969, many of the trees were wiped out by Hurricane Camille, and the plantations never recovered.{{ cite web | title = Damage Assessment from Hurricane Camille | url = http://chps.sam.usace.army.mil/USHESdata/Assessments/camille/Damage_appraisal.htm | access-date = 3 November 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090619011715/http://chps.sam.usace.army.mil/USHESdata/Assessments/camille/Damage_appraisal.htm | archive-date = 19 June 2009 | url-status = dead | df = dmy-all }} Increased competition from overseas has ended cultivation in the United States and the tree is now listed as an invasive species in Florida.{{ cite web | publisher = USDA | title = Introduced, Invasive and Noxious Plants / Weeds of Florida | url = http://plants.usda.gov/java/invasiveOne?pubID=FLEPPC }}
Global production of the fruit rose from just over 100,000 tonnes in 1970 to almost 200,000 tonnes by 1980. Fruit yields are typically in the range of 4.5–5 tonnes per hectare. A number of cultivars have been selected for increased yield and small tree size, including 'Folsom', 'Cahl', 'Isabel', 'La Crosser', and 'Lampton'.
The wood of the tree is lightweight and strong, and is sometimes used as a substitute for balsa or basswood.Apogee Components Condor: [http://www.apogeerockets.com/Rocket_Kits/Glider_Rockets/Condor_Boost_Glider Glider using tung wood]
The tung tree is poisonous in all of its parts, including the fruit and the seeds, although some parts of the tree have been used for medicinal purposes in the past. According to the University of Florida Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants, just one seed from the fruit can be fatal, and other symptoms may include vomiting, diarrhea, and slowed breathing. The leaves can also give a rash similar to that from poison ivy.{{ cite web | publisher = University of Florida | work = Florida Invasive Plant Education | url = http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-directory/aleurites-fordii/ | title = Aleurites fordii |access-date=2018-01-05 }}
Chemistry
The plant contains the coumarinolignoid aleuritin and 5,6,7-trimethoxy coumarin.{{ cite journal |author1=Fozdar, B. I. |author2=Khan, S. A. |author3=Shamsuddin, T. |author4=Shamsuddin, K. M. |author5=Kintzinger, J. | title = Aleuritin, a Coumarinolignoid, and a Coumarin from Aleurites fordii | journal = Phytochemistry | year = 1989 | volume = 28 | issue = 9 | pages = 2459–61 | doi = 10.1016/S0031-9422(00)98005-1 }}
References
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External links
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- {{ cite web | url = http://libproject.hkbu.edu.hk/was40/detail?lang=en&channelid=1288&searchword=herb_id=D00909 | title = Aleurites fordii (Hemsl.) Airy Shaw | work = Medicinal Plant Images Database | publisher = School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University }} {{in lang|zh-hant}} {{in lang|en}}
- {{ cite journal |author1=Ito, Y. |author2=Yanase, S. |author3=Tokuda, H. |author4=Kishishita, M. |author5=Ohigashi, H. |author6=Hirota, M. |author7=Koshimizu, K. | title = Epstein-Barr Virus Activation by Tung Oil, Extracts of Aleurites fordii and its Diterpene Ester 12-O-Hexadecanoyl-16-hydroxyphorbol-13-acetate | journal = Cancer Letters | year = 1983 | volume = 18 | issue = 1 | pages = 87–95 | doi = 10.1016/0304-3835(83)90121-0 | pmid = 6297709 }}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}