The wood milk fruit tree has a beautiful body and delicious fruit is a multi-purpose tree species that integrates ornamental, edible and medicinal purposes.

Wooden milk fruit

Euphorbiaceae is an evergreen tree. There are about 80 species in this genus, which are distributed in India and Malaysia. China is mainly distributed in the valleys and hillsides in the south of China. It is one of the representative species of tropical rain forest plants. The wood milk fruit tree has a beautiful body and delicious fruit. It is a multi-purpose tree species integrating ornamental, edible and medicinal purposes, and it is also a plant with high potential for economic value development.

Morphological characteristics

Evergreen trees, 5-15 m tall, DBH to 60 cm; bark grayish brown; branchlets hispid, later glabrous.

Leaf blade papery, Obovate-oblong, oblanceolate or oblong, 9-15 cm long and 3-8 cm wide, apex shortly acuminate to acute, base cuneate, entire or shallowly undulate, green above, yellowish green below, glabrous on both surfaces; lateral veins 5-7 on each side, flattened above, raised below; petiole 1-4.5 cm long.

Flowers small, dioecious, apetalous; racemose panicles axillary or cauline, sparsely pubescent, male inflorescences up to 15 cm long, female inflorescences up to 30 cm long; bracts ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 2-4 mm long, brownish yellow; male flowers: sepals 4-5, oblong, outside sparsely pubescent; stamens 4-8; pistillode Terete, 2-parted. Female flowers: sepals 4-6, oblong-lanceolate, outside pubescent; ovary ovate or globose, densely purplish strigose, style very short or absent, stigma flattened, 2-lobed.

Berry-shaped capsule ovate or subglobose, 2-2.5 cm long and 1.5-2 cm in diameter, turning purplish red after yellow, indehiscent, with 1-3 seeds; seeds oblate-elliptic or suborbicular, 1-1.3 cm long. The flowering period is from March to April and the fruiting period is from June to October.

Distribution situation

Distributed in Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi and Yunnan, India, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia. Born in a mountain forest at an altitude of 10-1300 meters. The type specimens were collected from Vietnam.

Growth habit

The growth of wood milk fruit is not very strict to the soil, and can grow in general soil, but it is suitable for slightly acidic soil with deep soil layer and good drainage, which requires good ventilation, drought tolerance, light tolerance and stress resistance. it is a typical forest tree species in the middle and lower layers of tropical rain forest.

Reproduction method

After the fresh fruit was harvested, the pericarp and pulp were removed, and the pericarp was peeled or not peeled, and then direct seeded in the sand bed or sand table. The results showed that the episperm began to germinate after 16 days, and the germination rate was 68. It began to germinate 9 days after the episperm was removed, and the germination rate was 86-94.

Cutting propagation of 2012 or perennial branches were divided into two groups, which were treated with ABT rooting powder No. 1 and naphthalene acetic acid 500,1000 and 1500mg/L respectively. After treatment, buds first grew and better calli were produced, but they did not take root. It needs further study.

High-pressure propagation selected two-year-old strong disease-free insect branches, ring cut 2 cm wide, deep to the xylem, 1 hour later in the ring cutting dipped in rooting powder 1000mg/L, external use of toilet paper moisturizing, and then wrapped in thin mud in the ring cut, and then removed in the thin mud carbofuran to prevent termites and other pests, external film wrapped at both ends tied up, 35 days after callus formation, 40 days rooting, 60 days can be cut and transplanting.

Cultivation status

In China, wood milk fruit is mostly distributed in wild state in low and middle altitude valleys and hillside woodlands, but it has not been cultivated in large areas. Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan and Yunnan are generally sporadically cultivated in the garden for ornamental, fresh food and medicinal purposes. The wood milk fruit has been cultivated in Dongxing area for more than 50 years, and two excellent clones have been selected, but there is no large-scale popularization and commercial cultivation. The fine clones of wood milk fruit have been planted in Xinglong area of Wanning City, Hainan Province for more than 10 years, but only a few families are interplanted in betel nut and Xishuangbanna area of Yunnan Province. Dai people and farm workers mainly plant real trees, and most of them are cultivated sporadically in the field and in front and behind the house.

Related research

Seedling growth: the same fruit was collected in August 1990, and the seeds were taken out and washed to raise seedlings. After the first true leaf grows, move to the nutrition bag. By April 25 of the following year, the seedlings grew for 8 months, and the plant heights and diameters of white and purple milkfruit were 15.3 cm and 17.9 cm, 0.39 cm and 0.44 cm, respectively. From the monthly average growth of seedlings, the growth range of plant height of the two types of wood milk fruit was smaller, and the growth rate of diameter was similar.

The growth of young trees: planted in June 1991 and observed 10 years later (December 2001), the height and diameter of white-bark and purple-bark milk fruit were 6.15 cm and 6.75 cm, 7.94 cm and 9.19 cm, respectively. There was little difference in height growth and diameter growth between the two types of wood milk trees. The growth rate of tree height and stem diameter was faster in the third year after planting, and the growth was basically stable after 10 years.

Flowering and fruiting: Wood milk began to blossom and bear fruit after 6 years of planting, budding from early February to late February, blooming in early March, blooming from early March to early April, young fruit from early April to mid-July, and fruit ripening in mid-late July.

There are problems

Lack of good varieties

At present, the planting materials in Hainan and Guangxi are excellent clones selected by fruit growers, which can not meet the conditions of variety identification carried out by relevant departments, while the planting materials in Yunnan are wild trees. The lack of identification, popularization and application of excellent varieties is one of the key factors restricting the development of wood milk fruit production.

The level of cultivation management is low.

Due to the lack of scientific and technological support, there is a serious lack of supporting technology related to the production of wood milk fruit, the normal management of wood milk fruit planted everywhere is extensive, and the phenomenon of "big and small year" is more common. the main reason is that the failure to carry out tree management in time in the year with high yield leads to the consumption of a lot of nutrients and the lack of timely and effective material replenishment, resulting in low yield in the following year. Lack of pest control, especially the serious occurrence of leaf-eating pests, often lead to light and area reduction and yield reduction.

It is difficult to match the storage and transportation measures.

Although the wood milk fruit has sweet and sour taste and good flavor, it can only be stored for 2-3 days at room temperature, with poor storability and short shelf life. The practice shows that the storage life of wood milk fruit can be extended to 10 to 15 days under the condition of 8 ℃ and 12 ℃, but the commodity cost is significantly increased by using low temperature storage and transportation hui, and the economic benefit is difficult to be guaranteed. At present, wood milk fruit is mostly sold on the spot, the market consumption capacity is limited, and the price is lack of market-oriented regulation, which is also the main limiting factor affecting the development of wood milk fruit planting industry.

The potential value has not been fully developed.

The wood milk fruit tree has a beautiful body and beautiful fruit shape. it is a kind of subtropical tree species with high ornamental value, but it has not been reported for research and development at present. Although the medicinal properties of wood milk fruit have been recorded for a long time, but most of them are limited to folk use and lack of commercial excavation and development.

Value

The shape of the wood milk tree is very beautiful and evergreen all the year round, so it is very suitable to be used as a material for landscaping.

The ornamental effect of group planting is also very good.

The fruit of fruit trees generally bear fruit on the upper part of the plant, mainly because its flowers always bloom on the branches, while the tropical rain forest has multiple layers of forest structure, and the upper half of the forest has dense branches and leaves. It is difficult for plants to carry out pollination activities in this space, while the lower layer is more open and suitable for insect activities, making some tropical plants blossom and bear fruit in the roots and stems.

Although the wood milk fruit is not a banyan plant, it is also a kind of stem flower, stem and fruit plant. At the time of the fruit, the trunk and old branches were covered with ears full of fruit.

The fruit is as big as a plum and is red or orange when ripe. There are three seeds wrapped in pulp in the skin. The pulp is sour and sweet and delicious. It is a famous wild fruit.

As a landscape plant, wood milk fruit is cultivated in the courtyard or lawn of the scenic spot, and the fruit grows in the middle and lower part of the plant, close to the ground, and is close to people, which is easy to arouse the curiosity of tourists and is suitable for photography and painting.