Tung oil, which is pressed from the nuts of this tree, is used by the protective coating industry in varnishes, enamels, and electrical insulators. Tung is a soft wooded, smooth-barked deciduous tree that may grow to 30 feet. First blooms appear from late February to April before the leaves appear. Growers allow the trees to start branching 4 to 6 feet above the ground.
Tree shape is oval and symmetrical.
Each flower may be an inch or more in length, and the tree is covered with the canopy of blossoms. The tree is not self-sterile. It merely needs the agency to transfer the sticky pollen from the anthers of the staminate flowers to the stigma of the pistillate flower. The pollination of tung trees is dependent upon the honey bee. Other insects visit the blossoms but rarely in sufficient abundance to be of significance.