| English Name | Tsoong's Tree |
|---|---|
| Status in China | Vulnerable (VU). Recorded in China Plant Red Data Book and Illustration of Rare & endangered plant in Guangdong Province. |
Description:
Evergreen trees, up to 25 m high; twigs, buds, petioles, abaxial surfaces of leaves and peduncles covered with yellowish brown rigid hairs. Leaves thickly membranous, obovate-elliptic, 8-17 cm long, 3.5-7 cm wide, apex acute or obtuse, base cuneate; petiole enlarged at base, stipular scars almost reach the middle of petioles. Flowers bisexueal, solitary and axillary, fragrant; tepals 9, in 3 whorls, ivory-yellow with red spots, narrowly obovate-elliptic, outer ones largest, 1.7-2 cm long, 0.7-0.8 cm wide; stamens 35-45; pistils 9-13, narrowly ovoid, densely appressed pubescent. Aggregate long ellipsoid, 13 cm long, 9 cm in diameter; pericarp with glaucous lenticels.
Distribution:
Tai Mo Shan. Also in Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, S Jiangxi, SE Yunnan; N Vietnam.
Habitat and Ecology:
In evergreen broad-leaved forest. Flowering: Mar.; fruiting: Oct.-Dec.
The tree can be used as an ornamental. The volatile oil extracted from its flowers has potential uses. Small population size, fragmented distribution range and natural reproductive depression are the main threats. In Hong Kong only one individual has been found, but the locality of occurrence is in Tai Mo Shan Country Park under protection. All species of the Magnoliaceae, including Tsoongiodendron odorum, are protected by the Forestry Regulations (Cap. 96 sub. leg.). AFCD have attempted to propagate this plant through grafting.
References:
劉玉壺，1987：木蘭科。廣東植物誌1：20-21。廣東科技出版社，廣州。
劉玉壺，1996：中國植物誌30（1）：192。科學出版社，北京。
傅立國，1992：中國植物紅皮書1：454-455。科學出版社，北京。
