Scientific Name : Cratoxylum cochinchinense (Lour.) Blume
Common Name : Yellow Cow Wood
Chinese Name : 黃牛木, 鳥籠木
Family : CLUSIACEAE
Local distribution status : Native species
| Origin | South-Central and Southeast China, Mainland Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines. |
|---|---|
| Meanings of names | The specific epithet cochinchinense means ‘from Cochinchina’, a historical site located in southern Vietnam; Jiaozhi (the same pronunciation of Cochin in Chinese) where was referred by the ancient Chinese to Vietnam. Moreover, the common name ‘Yellow Cow Wood’ describes its similar bark colour to the yellow cattle. |
| Ecology | Yellow Cow Wood is relatively undemanding to environments, showing a wide range of distributions in low-elevation forests, thickets, grasslands and riverbanks. Its leaves and flowers help shape the local biodiversity; its leaves are a pivotal food source to the larvae of Remelana jangala (Chocolate Royal), a common butterfly species in Hong Kong; its flowers serve as nectar hotspots for bees and other local insects. |
| Application |
The bark, roots and leaves of Yellow Cow Wood are exploited for a traditional Chinese medicine Hunagniucha, which is also known as the primary ingredient of ‘24 flavours’. The medicine can relieve heat, dampness, blood stasis and swelling. Apart from the versatile medicinal functions, its wood is hard, durable, textured; therefore, it is always yearned for making wooden sculptures. However, the growth of Yellow Cow Wood is sluggish and rampant logging activities could retard the expansion of its wild population and pose unknown threat to the local biodiversity. Yellow Cow Wood is one of the framework species of afforestation in China. Its magnificent tolerance to infertile soils allows it to rapidly acclimatize to and revitalize the barren lands. |
| Growing habit | Deciduous shrub or tree. |
|---|---|
| Height | To 10 m. |
| Stem | Bark smooth, yellowish white to orange brown, peeling off in lumps. |
| Leaves | Simple leaves opposite. Leaf papery, blade narrowly elliptic to oblong or lanceolate, base cuneate to obtuse, apex acute or shortly acuminate, abaxially pale green, with glands or black spots near the margin, lateral veins slightly eminent on both surfaces. Young leaves red, green when mature. |
| Flower | Cymes axillary or terminal, 2– 5 flowered, seldomly 1. Petals 5, crimson. Stamens many, always clustered into 3 distinct bundles, dark crimson to pinkish yellow. |
| Fruit | Capsules elliptic, more than half of enclosed by persistent calyx. Turning green to dark brown when mature. |
| Flowering period | April to May in Hong Kong. |
| Fruiting period | June in Hong Kong. |
Scientific name above is based on Hong Kong Herbarium website: https://herbarium.gov.hk/en/hk-plant-database/plant-detail/index.html?pType=species&oID=5832
Scientific names from other databases :
― Flora of China: Cratoxylum cochinchinense (Loureiro) Blume
― Plants of the World Online: Cratoxylum cochinchinense (Lour.) Blume