May blossoms, summer snow
Previously cultivated for their commercial value, today tung trees have taken on an ornamental and cultural significance, writes Elaine Yim
Poetry in motion The blossoms that wither to the ground become the inspiration for expressions of love and emotion. Tung tree leaves can be either heart-shaped or three-lobed like maple leaves. Miaoli, Nantou, Taichung, Taipei, Taoyuan, Yunli and Yilan.
PLANT PROFILE
Vernicia spp.
Aleurites spp.
Euphorbiaceae
The genus name Vernicia is derived from the Latin word meaning varnish. The three species are:
1. Vernicia cordata native to South Japan 2. Vernicia fordii native to South China,
Myanmar and Vietnam
3. Vernicia montana native to South China
and Indo-China.
The species names are derived from Latin words with meaning heartshaped, meaning mountain while was probably named in honour of Charles Ford (1844-1927), the first superintendent of Hong Kong Government Gardens.
Vernicia trees are commonly called tung trees, tung oil, china wood oil or kalo nut trees. These trees are cultivated commercially for the oil in their seeds. “Tung oil” or “China wood oil” has been in use in ancient China since Confucius’ time. Traditionally, tung oil was used to waterproof Chinese junks and the green oil-paper umbrellas popular during the Song Dynasty. It was also used as fuel for oil lamps.
In Taiwan, tung trees are either V. fordii (tung-oil) or V. montana (mu-oil). Many of these trees were planted in the forests of north Taiwan during the Japanese occupation (1895-1945). Later the Kuomintang Government continued with the planting and today Taiwan’s many mountains are still filled with tung trees. In the old days, tung trees were cultivated for their commercial value but nowadays, they’ve taken on an ornamental and cultural significance.
The wood of the mu-oil tree is used to make furniture, toothpicks, clogs and matchsticks while oil from the seeds of the tung-oil tree is used in inks, paints, varnishes, wood finishing and coatings. V. montana blooms from March to May while V. fordii start to flower a bit later between April to July.
TUNG TREES
This small to medium-sized deciduous tree can grow to a height of 20m and has an umbrella-shaped crown and a thin, smooth bark. It oozes a white milky sap when cut. The branches are soft wood, hence will break easily under strong winds. The leaves are heart-shaped, alternately arranged and measure between 5 and 25cm in length.
The flowers are very showy and are produced in masses on loose terminal inflorescences. There can be as many as 50 to 80 flowers per cluster. Each flower, which measures about 3cm in diameter, has five silky white petals and a pinkish throat.
Tung trees are monoecious, meaning that there are separate male and female flowers on the same flower cluster. The fruit, which is hard and pear-shaped, starts off being green in colour before ripening to brown. Each fruit has between four and five seeds. All parts of the plant are poisonous.
There are many flowers in a single cluster. Both male and female flowers
appear on the same cluster.