Field Trip to CUHK for Botany on CUHK Campus

Sacred Heart Canossian College

Research Team

*  Kathy Chin 		F6C
*  Queenie Ching 	F6C
*  Angel Koo 		F6C
*  Cindy Kwok 		F6C

of Sacred Heart Canossian College


 Introductions

* The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) 
  is located at the southwest shore 
  of Tolo Harbour. The campus is beautifully 
  landscaped and filled with many natural and 
  ornamental plants.

* In this project, we would like to list the
  characteristics of 10 species on CUHK Campus.

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1. Syzygium jambos (蒲桃)

* exotic species from India & Malaysia
* grow in humid and warm habitats
* fluffy, greenish white flowers
* fragrant fruit with a taste of rose water
- fluffy flowers with stamens longer than petals

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2. Parthenocissus dalzielii
[異葉爬山虎(爬牆虎)]

Characteristics:
* large climbing semi-woody vine
* each leaf has three prominent lobes or leaflets
* rapid and aggressive growth rate 

2. Parthenocissus dalzielii
(異葉爬山虎)
* tendrils with adhesive disks/ holdfasts
* to anchor on stone, brick, wood, or bark  firmly
- Holdfasts are specialized structures to act 
  as vacuum suckers, enabling the plant to climb on 
  slanted rock or trunk 

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3. Melaleuca quinquenervia
(白千層)

* Common name: paper-bark tree
* exotic species (introduced from Australia)

Characteristics:
* evergreen 
* bark spongy, multi-layered, naturally peeling off
* leaves aromatic, releasing essential oil when crushed

3. Melaleuca quinquenervia
(白千層)
* leaf essence can be extracted and purified 
  to be eucalyptus oil (玉樹油), namely cajuput oil (白樹油),
  which is one of the ingredients of Pak Fah Yeow (白花油) and 
  Tiger Balm ointment (萬金油) used for medicinal purposes 
* inner layers of the trunk are nonflammable, 
  can prevent hill fires from spreading
* it has great resistance against air pollution and drought conditions  

3. Melaleuca quinquenervia
(白千層)
* leaves lanceolate, alternate (互生),  
  (featured like a test-tube brusher), 
+ lanceolate - shaped like a lance-head, several times longer than wide,
  broadest above the base and narrowed to the apex. 

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4. Tradescantia spathacea
[紫萬年青(蚌花)]
* Common name: boat lily
* can form a dense groundcover under shrubs and small trees in gardens
* drought-resistant, can grow in shade and spread on forest floor 

4. Tradescantia spathacea
[紫萬年青(蚌花)]
* rosette, succulent herb with short stems; 
  leaves elongate, broadly linear-lanceolate
* flowers white, enclosed in two large bracts that look like two clam shells 
- leaves boat-shaped, with green upper surface and reddish-purple lower surface

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5. Acacia confusa
(臺灣相思 )
* a native species of northern Philippines 
* 'leaves' are actually phyllodes derived from 
  flattened petioles, leathery, parallel-curving-veined, 
  narrowed at both ends
* Inflorescence ball-shaped, bearing yellow flowers
- Phyllodes are leaf-like and photosynthetic petioles; 
  seedlings of A. confusa usually have leaflets 
  showing the plant as having pinnately compound leaves 

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6. Vernicia Montana
[木油樹(千年桐)] 
* Common name: Wood-oil Tree
* deciduous tree up to 20 m tall, bark dark brown; 
  glabrous branches
* leaves deeply lobed


6. Vernicia Montana
[木油樹(千年桐)] 
* leaf base bearing two stalked cup-shaped glands
* flowers white or purple-red at throat 
  and with purple-red nerve-stripes
* seed oil used as paints and varnishes

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7. Rhus hypoleuca
[白背鹽膚木(白背漆) ]
* leaves opposite, odd-pinnately compound with 9 leaflets
* underside of leaf densely covered with white short hairs
* widely distributed in southern China
* may cause skin allergy. 

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8. Alangium chinense 
(八角楓)
* Common name: Chinese Alangium
* small deciduous tree 
* leaves alternate, asymmetrical, entire or with shallowly pointed lobes
* grow favourably in infertile soil 

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9. Podocarpus macrophyllus 
(羅漢松)
* Common name: Buddhist Pine
* upright columnar trees
* leaves dark green, linear to lanceolate
* grows in Japan and southern China; in Hong Kong, 
  usually found in eastern parts of the New Territories, 
  e.g. Sai Kung 

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10. Nerium oleander
(夾竹桃)
* leaves linear, in whorls of three 
* flowers mostly pink or white in Hong Kong, 
  bloom from spring to autumn 

10. Nerium oleander
(夾竹桃)
* extremely toxic
* broken leaves and stems exude white latex