{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = Vernicia fordii4.jpg |image_caption = ''Vernicia fordii'' |display_parents = 3 |taxon = Vernicia |authority = Lour. |synonyms_ref = <ref name=j/> |synonyms = *''Dryandra'' <small>Thunb. 1783, rejected name, not R.Br. 1810</small> *''Elaeococca'' <small>Comm. ex A.Juss.</small> }}
'''''Vernicia'''''<!-- not all species , commonly referred to as '''tung''' or '''tung-oil tree''', --> is a genus in the spurge family Euphorbiaceae, first described as a genus in 1790.<ref>[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/654234#page/187/mode/1up Loureiro, João de. 1790. Flora Cochinchinensis 2: 541, 586–587] in Latin, highly abbreviated</ref><ref>[http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40023872 Tropicos ''Vernicia'' Lour.]</ref> It is native to China, Japan, India, and Indochina.<ref name=j>[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=212843 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]</ref><ref name=grin>{{GRIN | ''Vernicia cordata'' | 320179 | accessdate = 21 January 2018}}</ref><ref name=ft>Flora of Thailand: [http://www.nationaalherbarium.nl/Thaieuph/ThVspecies/ThVernicia.htm ''Vernicia'']</ref> The species have often been included within the related genus ''Aleurites''.<ref>Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. & Radcliffe-Smith, A. (2000). World Checklist and Bibliography of Euphorbiaceae (and Pandaceae) 1-4: 1-1622. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.</ref><ref>[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=134493 Flora of China Vol. 11 Page 266 <big>油桐属</big> you tong shu ''Vernicia'' Loureiro, Fl. Cochinch. 2: 586. 1790. ]</ref>
They are shrubs or trees growing to 20 m tall. The leaves are alternate, broad, and entire to palmately lobed; they may be either deciduous or evergreen. The flowers may be either monoecious or dioecious.<ref name=ft/>
==Species== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Image<ref name=j/> !! Fruit !! Scientific name !! Distribution |- | || ||''Vernicia cordata'' <small>(Thunb.) Airy Shaw.</small> || southern Japan, naturalized in Angola and Nepal |- |120px ||120px || ''Vernicia fordii'' <small>(Hemsl.) Airy Shaw.</small> || southern China, Myanmar, Vietnam, naturalized in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Taiwan, eastern Himalayas, New South Wales, California, Lesser Antilles, Paraguay, Argentina (tung oil tree) |- |120px||120px ||''Vernicia montana'' <small>Lour.</small> || southern China, Indochina; naturalized in Angola, Japan, Java, eastern Himalayas (mu oil tree) |- |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2699247}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Aleuritideae Category:Euphorbiaceae genera Category:Taxa named by João de Loureiro