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Vernicia fordii
Also called Tung oil tree, Tung tree, Chinese Wood Oil Tree
The tung tree (Vernicia fordii) is a deciduous tree from southern China, grown mainly for the oil pressed from its seeds. It is grown in subtropical climates and needs warm, frost-free conditions to fruit well.
Vernicia fordii, usually known as the tung tree (Chinese: 桐, tóng) and also as the tung-oil or tungoil tree (油桐), the kalo nut tree, and the China wood-oil tree, is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to southern China, Myanmar, and northern Vietnam.
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. 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.
The plant contains the coumarinolignoid aleuritin and 5,6,7-trimethoxy coumarin.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Vernicia fordii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
