''Malania oleifera'' is a species of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

in the

Olacaceae Olacaceae is a family (biology), family of flowering plants in the order Santalales. They are woody plants, native throughout the tropical regions of the world. , the Circumscription (taxonomy), circumscription of the family varies; some sources ...

family, the only species in the genus ''Malania''. It is a medium-sized tree, tall, that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to southern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

where it can be found in Western

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...

and South-Eastern

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

provinces. Known as "garlic-fruit tree" or ‘suantouguo’ (蒜头果) by local communities due to its garlic-shaped fruits, it is threatened by

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

and

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

. Notable for its substantial phytochemical value, its seed has the highest-known proportion of

nervonic acid Nervonic acid (24:1, n−9) is a fatty acid. It is a monounsaturated analog of lignoceric acid (24:0). It is also known as selacholeic acid and ''cis''-15-tetracosenoic acid. Its name derives from the Latin word ''wikt:nervus, nervus'', meaning ...

(C₂₄H₄₆O₂, PubChem CID: 5281120). Nervonic acid is an important component in

myelin Myelin is a lipid-rich material that surrounds nerve cell axons (the nervous system's "wires") to insulate them and increase the rate at which electrical impulses (called action potentials) are passed along the axon. The myelinated axon can be ...

biosynthesis in the central and peripheral nervous system, and has been proposed to enhance human brain function. To aid this research its 1.51 Gigabase genome has been sequenced by researchers in China.

References

Olacaceae Endemic flora of China Trees of China Vulnerable plants Monotypic Santalales genera Santalales genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Santalales-stub