木竹子 mu zhu zi

Garcinia hainanensis Merrill.

Trees, rarely shrubs, (3-)5-15 m tall, 20-40 cm in diam. Bark gray, scabrid. Twigs gray, angled. Petiole 0.6-1.2 cm; leaf blade abaxially glaucous-green or brown when dry, ovate, oblong-ovate, or oblong-obovate, 7-16(-20) × 3-6 cm, thinly leathery, midvein raised abaxially, impressed adaxially; secondary veins 10-15 pairs, slender, joining near leaf margin; tertiary veins and veinlets inconspicuous adaxially, base cuneate or broadly cuneate, margin somewhat recurved, apex acute, acuminate, or obtuse. Plant monoecious. Male flowers sometimes solitary, sometimes in a thyrse 5-7 cm, 2-3 cm in diam.; pedicels 0.8-1.5 cm; sepals 2 large, 2 small; petals orange, obovate, 1-5 × as long as sepals; stamen fascicles stalk 2-3 mm, each fascicle with 50 anthers; anthers aggregated into a head, 2-celled, cells longitudinally dehiscent; pistillode columnar; stigma distinctly peltate, 4-lobed. Female flowers 1-5; staminode fascicles short, stalk ca. 1.5 mm, shorter than pistil; ovary oblong, wider in upper half, 2-loculed; stigma sessile, peltate, large, thick. Mature fruit yellow, ovoid to obovoid, 3-5 × 2.5-3 cm, smooth. Seeds 1 or 2, oblong, 2-2.5 cm. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Nov-Dec, flowers and fruit appear occasionally at same time.

Open or dense forests on mountain slopes, valley margins, secondary forests, thickets; (100-)400-1200(-1900) m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, S Guizhou, Hainan, SW Hunan, Jiangxi, Taiwan, Yunnan [N Vietnam].

This is a widely adaptable species growing in various habitats and at various elevations.

The seeds yield up to 50% oil (seed pulp up to 55% oil). The oil is used for manufacturing soap or as a lubricant for machines. The bark is used as an external medicine to reduce inflammation. The timber is hard, and is used for making furniture, boats, and woodcuts.