Vernicia is a genus in the spurge family Euphorbiaceae, first described as a genus in 1790.Loureiro, João de. 1790. Flora Cochinchinensis 2: 541, 586–587 in Latin, highly abbreviatedTropicos Vernicia Lour. It is native to China, Japan, India, and Indochina.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant FamiliesFlora of Thailand: Vernicia The species have often been included within the related genus Aleurites.Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. & Radcliffe-Smith, A. (2000). World Checklist and Bibliography of Euphorbiaceae (and Pandaceae) 1-4: 1-1622. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.Flora of China Vol. 11 Page 266 油桐属 you tong shu Vernicia Loureiro, Fl. Cochinch. 2: 586. 1790.
They are shrubs or trees growing to 20 m tall. The leaves are alternate, broad, and entire to palmately lobed; they may be either deciduous or evergreen. The flowers may be either monoecious or dioecious.
Species Image Fruit Scientific name Distribution Vernicia cordata (Thunb.) Airy Shaw. southern Japan, naturalized in Angola and Nepal Vernicia fordii (Hemsl.) Airy Shaw. southern China, Myanmar, Vietnam, naturalized in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Taiwan, eastern Himalayas, New South Wales, California, Lesser Antilles, Paraguay, Argentina (tung oil tree) Vernicia montana Lour. southern China, Indochina; naturalized in Angola, Japan, Java, eastern Himalayas (mu oil tree)
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