ALEURITES MONTANA 桐花

The Taiwanese drama "Easy Fortune, Happy Life" is currently being aired on 8TV in Malaysia and if you happen to be following the series, you will find the characters mentioning about the Tung Hwa Tree. Do you know that the tung oil is one of the ingredients in making the 'koyok' or medicinal plaster that we like to use when we have sprains and aches?

Here is more information about the Tung Oil Tree.

Common names: Tung Oil Tree, Wood-oil tree, mu-tree, Cantonese wood-oil tree, abrasin-oil tree
Scientific name: Aleurites Montana/Vernicia Montana

Family:Euphorbiaceae

Uses:

• In China the oil is used traditionally in the manufacture of paints and Chinese black ink, for waterproofing cloth and paper, caulking and painting ships and as a lamp oil.


• Currently, its main use is in the production of paints and inks, while low-quality oil is processed into soap or linoleum.


• In medicine, tung oil is used to treat parasitic and other skin diseases and is a strong purgative.


• It is a component of nearly all Chinese plasters.

Source: http://database.prota.org/PROTAhtml/Vernicia%20montana_En.htm