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Kukui--Aleurites Moluccanum

Frond-friend42

By Frond-friend42
in TROPICAL LOOKING PLANTS - Other Than Palms

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JasonD Mentor

JasonD

Posted
Posted

To my astonishment, a Palm Society friend in San Rafael, California, here in the Bay Area, has a big, beautiful kukui nut tree in his favored microclimate.

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Jason Dewees

Inner Sunset District

San Francisco, California

Sunset zone 17

USDA zone 10a

21 inches / 530mm annual rainfall, mostly October to April

Humidity averages 60 to 85 percent year-round.

Summer: 67F/55F | 19C/12C

Winter: 56F/44F | 13C/6C

40-year extremes: 96F/26F | 35.5C/-3.8C

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mnorell Mentor

mnorell

Posted
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Benjamin that is a great-looking plant and so funny to see that plant growing in Utah! I always though it was such a pretty tree (and I know, a real "yawner" for anyone in Hawai'i). Jason, I am so glad to hear you mention that plant in Marin, I have always wondered how adaptable these were to colder climates (irrespective of freezing conditions) but never attempted to acquire one for testing. I had a beautiful Tung Oil tree (Aleurites fordii) in my garden in Natchez. A really wonderful tree as well, fast-growing with huge leaves and very tropical-looking despite its cold-hardiness, though winter-deciduous. That species has the added bonus of very, very showy large flowers in Spring. There are many old trees in the extreme Deep South, where people today (at least in Natchez) are quite aware of it, but often afraid to plant it due to potential human toxicity of the large fruit and leaves. At one time in the 20th century there were plantations full of them in the humid southeast for oil production (Tung Oil is one of the finest woodworking oils) though, sadly, synthetic replacements have decreased their acreage significantly. The Tung Oil tree, native to the humid forests of southern China, Vietnam and Myanmar (Burma), is used in many parts of the world, including on a limited scale for bio-aviation fuel and automobile fuel (was used in China for the latter purpose during World War II). I wonder if the Kukui could be used for some of these purposes as well...certainly as Benjamin points out in its traditional Polynesian use, it makes a wonderful torch or candle!

Michael Norell

Rancho Mirage, California | 33°44' N 116°25' W | 287 ft | z10a | avg Jan 43/70F | Jul 78/108F avg | Weather Station KCARANCH310

previously Big Pine Key, Florida | 24°40' N 81°21' W | 4.5 ft. | z12a | Calcareous substrate | avg annual min. approx 52F | avg Jan 65/75F | Jul 83/90 | extreme min approx 41F

previously Natchez, Mississippi | 31°33' N 91°24' W | 220 ft.| z9a | Downtown/river-adjacent | Loess substrate | avg annual min. 23F | Jan 43/61F | Jul 73/93F | extreme min 2.5F (1899); previously Los Angeles, California (multiple locations)

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