Rare 'praying-hands' tree Chunia bucklandioides found to be native to Vietnam
A tree species previously known only from China's Hainan Island has now been found in Vietnam, adding a native timber tree to the country's flora.
The tree Chun lá Chắp tay ("praying-hands Chunia"), scientific name Chunia bucklandioides , was discovered by Dr. Đỗ Văn Trường of the Vietnam National Museum of Nature (Bảo tàng Thiên nhiên Việt Nam) and colleagues at Sun Yat-sen University in China in the Hoàng Liên-Văn Bàn Nature Reserve in Lào Cai province, northern Vietnam, during a research program on the flora of Vietnam and China.
It is the only species in the genus Chunia (Exbucklandioideae, Hamamelidaceae), a medium-sized tree that can grow up to 20 m tall. The species is listed as Vulnerable (VU) by the IUCN. Until now, it had been recorded only on Hainan Island, China. Following this discovery, Chunia bucklandioides is recognized as a native tree species of Vietnam.
The pair of stipules of Chunia bucklandioides, resembling two hands pressed together. (Photo: Đỗ Trường)
The study not only adds a new genus (Chunia) to Vietnam's flora but also contributes a potentially valuable timber gene pool to the country's plant life.
So far, only one small, scattered population of "praying-hands Chunia" has been recorded, growing beneath secondary forest regenerating after logging in the buffer zone of the Hoàng Liên-Văn Bàn Nature Reserve.
According to Dr. Trường, this is a valuable timber gene pool that deserves further study of its biology, ecology and potential uses (timber, raw materials for production and more), providing a scientific basis for developing this genetic resource in Vietnam. The findings were published in 2020 in a Finnish scientific journal.
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