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Bischofia polycarpa; photograph (c) Zinogre, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) CC BY-SA(c) Zinogre, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · observed growing wild · 2023-10-02

Bischofia polycarpa (H.Lév.) Airy Shaw

Phyllanthaceae · China South-Central, China North-Central +1

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Bischofia polycarpa, photograph (c) Zinogre, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)Bischofia polycarpa, photograph Sun Jiao (Interaccoonale), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsBischofia polycarpa, photograph Sun Jiao (Interaccoonale), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsBischofia polycarpa, photograph Sun Jiao (Interaccoonale), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsBischofia polycarpa, photograph Nyx Ning, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsBischofia polycarpa, photograph Nyx Ning, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons 9 photographs ›
Habitat figuresfrom few records
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
-3.8°C
Record low -14.7 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
32°C
Jul at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
1,564mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
18–33DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Wet summers: the rain comes March to August, read as a summer growing season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

From few records: 11 records in 10 grid cells. The records.

Summary

Bischofia polycarpa, or Chinese bishop wood (Chinese: 重陽木), is a plant species of the family Phyllanthaceae. It and the related Bischofia javanica are the only two members of genus Bischofia and tribe Bischofieae.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Bischofia polycarpa", CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the genus · Bischofia

Bischofia is a genus of plants in the family Phyllanthaceae first described as a genus in 1827. It is native to southern China, the Indian subcontinent, Queensland, New Guinea, and various islands of the Pacific. It is the only member of the tribe Bischofieae. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Bischofia", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the median year's rain (1,210 mm of 1,635 mm) falls in March to August, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 22.7 °C against a yearly mean of 18.1 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: September to February.

Rain

1,635 mm in the median year at the habitat, 1,210 mm of it March to August. Wettest month June at 251 mm, driest month December at 38 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 1,170 mm to 2,202 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 1,564 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 1,635 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 18 to 33 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 16, the highest 90th-percentile month 36).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is -3.8 °C, the absolute minimum -14.7 °C, 1,396 frost nights in 44 years, 31.7 a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 36.8 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 2.3 °C in January (across the grid cells of the range -1.6 °C to 5.2 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 31.6 °C in July (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: -3.8 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 58 to 65% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected -7 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

From few records: this habitat climate is read from 11 records in 10 grid cells; a page says so under 12 records or 5 cells, and shows the figures as read.

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Bischofia polycarpa through the yearWarmest month July, mean daily high 32 °C; coldest month January, mean nightly low 2.3 °C; 1,635 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°frost36.8° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER-14.7° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400500mm rainDLI 18–33RH 58–65%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 10 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C11 / 7–1412 / 9–1516 / 13–1922 / 19–2426 / 24–2729 / 27–3032 / 29–3331 / 29–3328 / 26–3023 / 21–2718 / 15–2113 / 10–16
Night °C2 / -2–55 / 0–88 / 4–1114 / 10–1719 / 16–2022 / 20–2425 / 22–2624 / 22–2621 / 18–2215 / 13–189 / 6–124 / 0–6
Rain mm60 / 44–8498 / 59–119166 / 86–189180 / 87–211227 / 104–307251 / 194–404217 / 129–325169 / 139–299104 / 84–19267 / 45–10258 / 46–9338 / 32–51
DLI18 / 16–1919 / 17–2122 / 19–2627 / 23–3130 / 26–3430 / 26–3233 / 31–3632 / 30–3328 / 26–2924 / 22–2720 / 18–2218 / 16–20
RH %60 / 58–6262 / 58–6563 / 59–6863 / 60–7063 / 60–6965 / 63–7064 / 61–6864 / 62–6763 / 61–6659 / 58–6158 / 57–6058 / 56–59
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 10 grid cells holding the 11 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1188:5887 (30.575, 114.375). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -14.7 °C, 1st-percentile night -3.8 °C, 99th-percentile day 36.8 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 10 distinct grid cells holding 11 of the 11 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1188:5887 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 30.50_114.375, lapse-corrected -7 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 22 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeChina South-Central, China North-Central, China Southeast · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker24.483, 112.633 · in the densest population, 99 records (78% of those in range)
Kew's description“tree” · “temperate” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 127 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 11 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 61 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 80 km away. 2 records outside the WCVP native range not used. Under a dozen records behind the climate. 116 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 127 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Bischofia polycarpa, photograph 1did not loadBischofia polycarpa, photograph 2did not loadBischofia polycarpa, photograph 3did not loadBischofia polycarpa, photograph 4did not loadBischofia polycarpa, photograph 5did not loadBischofia polycarpa, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: (c) Zinogre, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA); Sun Jiao (Interaccoonale), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (3); Nyx Ning, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (2).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Jasminum mesnyi Jasminum mesnyi Japanese jasmine Photo: CC BY, Reid HardinBerberis fortunei Berberis fortunei Berberidaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, peganumRosa laevigata Rosa laevigata Cherokee rose Photo: CC0, author not stated Ormosia henryi Fabaceae Diospyros kaki Diospyros kaki Japanese persimmon Photo: CC BY, WATANABE Hitoshi 渡辺仁Rosa chinensis Rosa chinensis China rose Photo: CC BY, Urgamal Magsar

Other Bischofia 1 in the reference

Bischofia javanica Bischofia javanica Bishopwood Photo: CC BY-SA, Dinesh Valke

Names & registers

Also known as Bischofia racemosa; Celtis polycarpa. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Phyllanthaceae
Described by
(H.Lév.) Airy Shaw
Native to
China South-Central, China North-Central, China Southeast
Wild records
127 in range · 61 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-21
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-21
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-21
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-21names fetched 2026-10-21
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 12 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (12 at a botanic garden or arboretum; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-21
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-21NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 30.50_114.375, lapse-corrected -7 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-21
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-21
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media nothing to reportasked 2026-10-21
Wikimedia Commons commons answeredasked 2026-10-21
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 15 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

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