Plants of Fung shui woods

The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department’s floral survey of 116 local fung shui woods shows that trees in these woodlands mainly belong to the families of Euphorbiaceae, Moraceae and Lauraceae, while shrubs and herbs are mostly Rubiaceae and Papilionaceae. These are families typical of tropical or sub-tropical evergreen broad-leaved forests. They mirror a regional characteristic of Hong Kong’s vegetation - southern sub-tropical lowland evergreen broad-leaved forests.

Common fung shui wood plants are Lance-leaved Sterculia (Sterculia lanceolata) (99/the number of the fung shui wood where this plant occurs. Same below); Longan (Dimocarpus longan) (92); Aporusa (Aporusa dioica) (92); Incense Tree (Aquilaria sinensis) (89); Miniature Umbrella Plant (Schefflera heptaphylla) (82); Hance’s Syzygium (Syzygium hancei) (64); Camphor Tree (Cinnamomum camphora) (56) and Machilus species. The most common undergrowth shrubs are Wild Coffee (Psychotria asiatica) (96); Asiatic Ardisia (Ardisia quinquegona) (89) and Uvaria (Uvaria microcarpa) (70). These plants are all widely distributed in forests. Other trees also common in fung shui woods are the Endospermum (Endospermum chinense), Pygeum (Pygeum topengii) and Butulang Canthium (Canthium dicoccum). These plants are less common in other lowland forests. As for such plants as the Pea-like Fruit Popowia (Popowia pisocarpa), Long-leaved Xylosma (Xylosma longifolium) and Medicinal Fat-head Tree (Nauclea officinalis), they are found only in fung shui woods and not any other forests. It may well be that the unique environment of fung shui woods is most suited to these species, or they are remnants of native vegetation which have been prevented from wide distribution due to isolation. Evidently, fung shui woods are unique habitats with great ecological significance.

Apart from wild flora, you can also find trees of economic importance on the fringes of fung shui woods. Examples are fruit trees like Longan, Lychee, Wampi, Banana, Pummelo, Mandarin, Rose Apple, Guava and Papaya. They were planted by the villagers. Besides fruit trees, fung shui woods also offer other useful plants to villagers. For instance, the Incense Tree (Aquilaria sinensis) can be refined into lignum, a Chinese herbal medicine. In the old days, villagers planted Incense Trees in many parts of the New Territories. After years of natural propagation, they are so widely distributed that it is difficult to tell wild colonies from planted ones.