| any of several trees belonging to the genus Aleurites, of the spurge family, esp. A. fordii, of China, bearing seeds that yield tung oil. |
| tung tree n. Any of several eastern Asian trees of the genus Aleurites, especially A. montana and A. fordii, cultivated for their seeds that yield a commercially valuable drying oil. [Chinese (Mandarin) tóng.] |
tung tree
(Aleurites fordii), small Asian tree of the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae), commercially valuable for tung oil (q.v.), which is extracted from its nutlike seeds. In the Orient tung oil was traditionally used for lighting, but it also has important modern industrial uses.
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