Cyclocarya is a genus of in the family Juglandaceae, comprising a single species Cyclocarya paliurus ( qing qian liu[ or wheel wingnut), formerly treated in the genus Pterocarya as Pterocarya paliurus. It is native to eastern and central China.][Flora of China: Cyclocarya][Flora of China: Cyclocarya paliurus]
It is a deciduous tree growing to 30 m tall. The foliage is similar to Pterocarya, with pinnate leaf 20–25 cm long with five to eleven leaflets, the terminal leaflet present; the leaflets are 5–14 cm long and 2–6 cm broad. The are ; the male (pollen) catkins are produced in clusters (not singly as in Pterocarya), the female catkins 25–30 cm long at maturity, bearing several small winged nuts with a circular wing 2.5–6 cm diameter right round the nut (instead of two wings at the sides as in Pterocarya).[
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Fossil record
20 fossil of † Cyclocarya nemejcii from the early Miocene, have been found in the Kristina Mine at Hrádek nad Nisou in North Bohemia, the Czech Republic.[A review of the early Miocene Mastixioid flora of the Kristina Mine at Hrádek nad Nisou in North Bohemia, The Czech Republic, January 2012 by F. Holý, Z. Kvaček and Vasilis Teodoridis - ACTA MUSEI NATIONALIS PRAGAE Series B – Historia Naturalis • vol. 68 • 2012 • no. 3–4 • pp. 53–118] Described first from the Middle Miocene of Japan † Cyclocarya ezoana is also known from the Middle Miocene Seldovia Point Flora of Alaska. 10 Ma old fossil leaflets that are very similar to it have been found in Tröllatunga-Gautshamar Formation in Iceland. The Icelandic fossils and † C. ezoana are similar to † C. cyclocarpa from the Early Miocene of Germany.[Late Cainozoic Floras of Iceland: 15 Million Years of Vegetation and Climate History in the Northern North Atlantic by Thomas Denk, Friðgeir Grimsson, Reinhard Zetter and Leifur A. Símonarson - Springer Science & Business Media, 28. mar. 2011 - 854 pages]
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