ABSTRACT
This chapter provides information on uses, folk medicine, chemistry, germplasm, distribution, ecology, cultivation, harvesting, yields, energy, and biotic factors of tung-oil tree. Tung trees are cultivated for their seeds, the endosperm of which supplies a superior quick-drying oil, utilized in the manufacture of lacquers, varnishes, paints, linoleum, oilcloth, resins, artificial leather, felt-base floor coverings, and greases, brake-linings and in clearing and polishing compounds. Tung trees may be propagated by seed or by budding. Seedlings generally vary considerably from parent plants in growth and fruiting characters. Seedlings which have been self-pollinated for several generations give rather uniform plants. Tung trees usually begin bearing fruit the third year after planting, and are usually in commercial production by the fourth or fifth year, attaining maximum production in 10 to 12 years. Average life of trees in the US is 30 years. During World War II, the Chinese used tung oil for motor fuel.
