Practical
Plants

Aleurites cordata

Japan Wood-Oil Tree

a perennial woody evergreen member of the Aleurites genus in the family Euphorbiaceae.

No photo available

Taxonomy and growth

Life cycle
perennial
Foliage
evergreen
Woodiness
woody
Height
7 m
Flower type
monoecious

Uses

Toxicity

Toxicity warning. The historical record reports a hazard for this plant. Do not use it to decide which parts are safe to eat or use medicinally.

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

The oil from the seed is poisonous[9].

Material uses

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

A drying oil obtained from the seed is used for treating woodwork, for lighting, soap making, varnish etc[1][7][8].

Product or use
Oil

Ecology and functions

Ecosystem niche
Secondary canopy

Environment

Range
E. Asia - China, Japan, but widely cultivated in eastern Asia.
Habitat
Rocky places to 1000 metres in W. China[2]. Montane sparse forests below 1550 metres[5].
Light
full sun
Shade tolerance
light shade
Water
moderate
Hardiness
Zone 10+
Soil textures
sandy, loamy
Soil pH
acid, neutral
Drainage
well drained
Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
No
Drought
intolerant

Propagation

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Seed - sow March/April in a warm greenhouse. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on for at least the first winter in a greenhouse. Plant out in early summer and give the plants some protection from the cold for their first winter outdoors. Cuttings of mature wood in a frame[4].

Cultivation

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Easily grown in a loamy soil but plants are unable to withstand much frost[1]. Requires a lime-free soil[4]. Plants are not hardy outdoors in Britain[4]. There is some confusion over the name of this species, it is included by some authorities as a synonym of A. fordii (q.v.), though this synonymy might refer to A. cordata. Muell-Arg[2]. A. cordata.(A.Juss.)Steud. is a synonym of A. montana. (Lour.)Wilson. a tree that is native to S.W. China[3]. This species (A cordata [Thunb.)Steud.) is cultivated for its oil in western Japan[6]. It is distinguished from A. montana by the glands at apex of petiole and the leaves with white or brown hairs at branching parts of veins of lower surface[6]. Aleurites montana (Lour.) Wilson, which is distributed in S. China to Indochina and cultivated in China and rarely in western Japan, differs from A. fordii in having ovoid verrucose fruits, that of A. fordii being smooth and spherical[6]. Aleurites fordii Hemsl. is cultivated in China and sometimes in Japan[6]. Aleurites moluccana (L.) Willd. is cultivated in Okinawa Islands (Naha, Kunigami) and different from all of them by the small flowers not over 1 cm long and the leaves without glands[6]

References

  1. F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951-00-00

    ↩1↩2

  2. Wilson. E. H. Plantae Wilsonae.

    ↩1↩2

  3. Hill. A. F. Economic Botany. The Maple Press 1952-00-00

    ↩

  4. Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5

    ↩1↩2↩3

  5. Flora of China 1994-00-00 http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/

    ↩

  6. Flora of Japan www.foj.info

    ↩1↩2↩3↩4↩5

  7. Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959-00-00

    ↩

  8. Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974-00-00 ISBN 0094579202

    ↩

  9. Frohne. D. and Pf�nder. J. A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. Wolfe 1984-00-00 ISBN 0723408394

    ↩

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