Vernicia fordii (Hemsl.) Airy Shaw

Vernicia fordii (Hemsl.) Airy Shaw

Photo alchetron.com

Latin Name: Vernicia fordii (Hemsl.) Airy Shaw; Family Euphorbiaceae

Synonym Name: Aleurites fordii Hemsl

English Name: Tung-oil Tree, Tungoiltree, Oiltung, Tung Oil Tree, Chinese Woodoil Tree, China Wood-oil Tree, Tung-oil-tree, Tungoil Tree

Vietnamese name: Trẩu lùn, Trẩu hoa to, Trẩu trơn, Tung

Description: Trees, to 10[–20] m. Leaves: stipules 4–12 mm; petiole 6–22 cm, with pair of round, sessile, cushion-shaped glands at apex; blade broadly ovate or triangular-ovate, 10–25 × 8–20 cm, usually unlobed, sometimes shallowly 3-lobed, base cordate, truncate, or rounded, apex acuminate, both surfaces moderately to sparsely hairy, hairs appressed. Inflorescences 6–15 × 6–20 cm, often branching from near base, branches to 15 cm. Pedicels 1–2 cm. Staminate flowers: sepals green to purplish, 10–12 mm; petals white or pale pink with dark pink to red veins proximally, sometimes yellow basally, obovate, 25–35(–40) × 15–20 mm, narrowed at base; nectary glands awl-shaped to strap-shaped; stamens in outer whorl 8 mm, in inner whorl 13 mm, connate 1/2–2/3 length. Pistillate flowers: sepals and petals as in staminate flowers; ovary hairy. Capsules subglobose, 4–6 cm diam., smooth, glabrous or glabrate, short stipitate, apex apiculate. Seeds 2.5–3 × 2 cm, surface warty, ridged. 2n = 22 (China).

Flowering Mar–Apr; fruiting Apr–Aug. Wood and field margins, abandoned fields, roadsides, disturbed woods; 0–150 m; introduced; Ala., Ark., Fla., Ga., La., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tex.; se Asia; introduced also in Australia.

Distribution: Growing on hillsides, mountain foot and in ravines. Distributed in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Gansu and etc.

Part Used: Medical part: roots, leaves, flowers, immature fruits, seeds or seed oil;

Chinese name: roots: Youtonggen. Leaves: Youtongye. Flower: Tongzihua. Immature fruit: Qitongzi. Seed: Youtongzi. Seed oil: Tongyou.

Harvest & Processing: Roots: harvested throughout the year. Used fresh or sun-dried. Leaves: harvested from May to Oct and sun-dried. Flowers: collected fallen ones in April and May and sun-dried. Immature fruits: collected the immature and caduceus ones, removed impurities, used fresh or sun-dried. Seeds: harvested when fruits get mature in Oct- Nov, heap up in damp places, sprinkle water on, covered with hay, collected seeds when the shells are rotten after 10 days, and sun-dried the seeds.

Chemistry: Seeds contain fatty oil that mainly consist of eleostearic acid, isoeleostearic acid and oleic acid. The plant contains the coumarinolignoid aleuritin and 5,6,7-trimethoxy coumarin.

Pharmacology: Seed and its abstracted oil: harmful to the liver and nerves, and nausea, vomiting and diarrhea causing.

Properties & Actions: Root: sweet, little pungent, cold, toxic. Leaves: sweet, little pungent, cold, very toxic. Flower: bitter, little pungent, cold, toxic. Seeds: sweet, little pungent, cold, very toxic. Seed oil: sweet, pungent, cold, toxic. Roots: regulating the downward circulation of qi and reducing impaction and expelling parasites. Leaves: clearing heat and reducing swelling, detoxifying and expelling parasite. Flowers: clearing heat and detoxifying, promoting tissue regeneration. Seeds: promoting spitting phlegm due to wind, reducing swelling and detoxifying, inducing urination and defecation. Extracted oil of seeds: promoting spitting sputum, detoxifying and expelling parasite, moisturizing skin and promoting tissue regeneration.

Poisonous to Humans:

Poison Severity: High

Poison Symptoms:

HIGHLY TOXIC, MAY BE FATAL IF EATEN! Poison part: All parts, but mainly the seeds Poisonous if ingested. Symptoms may include severe stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, slowed breathing, and poor reflexes; may be fatal.

Poison Toxic Principle: Glycoside and phytotoxin

Poison Part: Bark, Flowers, Fruits, Leaves, Roots, Seeds, Stems

Indications & Usage: Root: dyspepsia and feeling of fullness, edema, asthma, scrofula, ascariasis. Leaves: enteritis, dysentery, anthracia, ecthyma, sarcoptidosis, dermatitis rhus, scalding injuries. Flower: neonatal eczema, favus, sores induced by pyretic toxicity, burns and scalding injuries. Immature fruits: hernia, dyspepsia. Seeds: pharyngitis induced by wind phlegm, pyrophlegm and scrofula, dyspeptic abdominal distention, fecal and urinary obstruction, erysipelas, scalding injuries, acute inflammation of soft tissues. Seed oil: pharyngitis and ulcerative carbuncle, scalding injuries, frost bite and skin chap. Roots: oral administration: decocting, 12-18g, (fresh products: 30-60g); powdered, stewed with meat or made as medicinal liquor. External application: in smashed form. Use with caution in pregnancy; excess use would make them feel sick. Leaves: oral administration: decocting, 15-30g. External application: applied in smashed form; burnt and powdered to spread on affected parts. Flowers: oral administration, prepared decoction for washing; or coated with plant oil to spread on affected parts. Immature fruits: oral administration: decocting, 1-3 pieces. External application: applied in smashed form, or extracted juice for applying. Seeds: oral administration: decocting, 1-2 seeds; milled with water; smashed and taken with boiled water. External application: applied in powdered or smashed form or milled with water. Expelled oil of seeds: external application: applied on affected parts or with water or wine to induce vomiting.

Examples:      

1. Food accumulation and feeling of fullness, edema: tung-oil tree root 30g. Decoct in water or stew with meat, and eat.

2. Enteritis, bacterial dysentery, amoebic dysentery: tung leaves 45g. Decoct thickly in water, and drink by two times.

3. Neonate eczema, sore and pruritis after measles: tungoiltree flower, bunge pricklyashci, yangshizitiao, 100-150g each. Simmer in water and wash.

4. Difficulty in stool and urine: Tung seed 1 piece. Grind in water and drink, half seed approximately consumes 30g water.

References

Chinese Medicinal Material Images Database

efloras.org 
Theplantlist