''Toona sinensis'',
commonly called Chinese mahogany, Chinese cedar, Chinese toon, beef and onion plant, or red toon (; hi, डारलू, d̩āralū; ms, suren; vi, hương xuân) is a species of ''
Toona'' native to eastern and southeastern
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
, from
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
south through most of eastern, central and southwestern
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
to
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...
, northeastern
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
,
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
,
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
, and western
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
.
[University of Melbourne]
Sorting ''Toona'' names
/ref>[Hong Kong trees]
(in Chinese, with photos
[Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain and Europe''. Collins .]
Characteristics
It is a deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
growing to tall with a trunk up to 70 cm diameter. The bark
Bark may refer to:
* Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick
* Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog)
Places
* Bark, Germany
* Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland
Arts, e ...
is brown, smooth on young trees, becoming scaly to shaggy on old trees. The leaves
A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...
are pinnate
Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, an ...
, 50–70 cm long and 30–40 cm broad, with 10–40 leaflets, the terminal leaflet usually absent (paripinnate) but sometimes present (imparipennate); the individual leaflets 9–15 cm long and 2.5–4 cm broad, with an entire or weakly serrated margin. The young leaves are reddish-brown or purple, and have a smell. The flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanis ...
s are produced in summer in panicle
A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...
s 30–50 cm long at the end of a branch; each flower is small, 4–5 mm diameter, with five white or pale pink petals. The fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...
is a golden capsule 2–3.5 cm long, containing several winged seed
A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosper ...
s.[Taiwan Forestry]
''Toona sinensis''
(in Chinese, with photos
It is similar to ''Ailanthus altissima
''Ailanthus altissima'' , commonly known as tree of heaven, ailanthus, varnish tree, or in Chinese as ''chouchun'' (), is a deciduous tree in the family Simaroubaceae. It is native to northeast and central China, and Taiwan. Unlike other membe ...
'' in appearance, but their leaves smell differently. Toona has rough bark, while ''A. altissima'' has smooth bark.
Cultivation
''Toona sinensis'' can reproduce both sexually and asexually, including seed propagation, cutting
Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force.
Implements commonly used for wikt:cut, cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the scal ...
propagation and tissue culture
Tissue culture is the growth of tissues or cells in an artificial medium separate from the parent organism. This technique is also called micropropagation. This is typically facilitated via use of a liquid, semi-solid, or solid growth medium, su ...
.
Seed propagation can provide large quantity of seedling
A seedling is a young sporophyte developing out of a plant embryo from a seed. Seedling development starts with germination of the seed. A typical young seedling consists of three main parts: the radicle (embryonic root), the hypocotyl (emb ...
s, which is suitable for the need of mass cultivation. Seeds soaked in warm water for a moderate amount of time before sowing
Sowing is the process of planting seeds. An area or object that has had seeds planted in it will be described as a sowed or sown area.
Plants which are usually sown
Among the major field crops, oats, wheat, and rye are sown, grasses and le ...
are more likely to germinate
Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or spore. The term is applied to the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the spores of fungi, fer ...
. Normally, seeds of ''T. sinensis'' are sowed between the late March and early April in East Asia, and the time may vary depending on the actual planting area. Sapling
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
s grown from seeds in spring can be transplanted with leaves in fall.
Cutting
Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force.
Implements commonly used for wikt:cut, cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the scal ...
propagation uses a piece of stem or root of mature plant to grow a new plant in media like moist soil. This method has a higher survival rate in saplings than other methods. Usually semi- lignified stems are used in planting because those that have undergone full lignification
Lignin is a class of complex organic polymers that form key structural materials in the support tissues of most plants. Lignins are particularly important in the formation of cell walls, especially in wood and bark, because they lend rigidity an ...
process are hard to take root or root slowly and stems that have not lignified are easy to decay after planting. NAA or Vitamin D
Vitamin D is a group of Lipophilicity, fat-soluble secosteroids responsible for increasing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphate, and many other biological effects. In humans, the most important compounds in this group ar ...
solutions can help with the rooting of cut stems. Normally, ''T. sinensis'' stems are cut from mature plant and cultivated between late June and early July in East Asia, and time may differ depending on the actual planting area.
Tissue culture
Tissue culture is the growth of tissues or cells in an artificial medium separate from the parent organism. This technique is also called micropropagation. This is typically facilitated via use of a liquid, semi-solid, or solid growth medium, su ...
of ''T. sinensis'' starts from late 1980s in China. Successful cases include the culture of ''T. sinensis'' seedlings on MS medium together with IAA and BA hormones. Since 1980s, researches have collected stems of mature ''T. sinensis'' trees from different regions and build a set of method specific for the tissue culture of rare variety of ''Toona sinensis.''
Uses
Food and Nutritions
The young leaves of ''T. sinensis'' are extensively used as a vegetable
Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the edible flower, flowers, ...
in China; they have a floral, yet onion
An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the on ...
-like flavor, attributed to volatile organosulfur
Organosulfur compounds are organic compounds that contain sulfur. They are often associated with foul odors, but many of the sweetest compounds known are organosulfur derivatives, e.g., saccharin. Nature abounds with organosulfur compounds—sulfur ...
compounds. Plants with red young leaves are considered of better flavour than those where the young leaves are green.[Plants for a Future]
''Toona sinensis''
/ref>[Oriental Vegetable Seeds]
/ref>
In China and Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, the young leaves of ''Toona sinensis'' or commonly known as Chinese Mahogany is used to make Toona paste, which is used as a condiment to serve with plain rice porridge as breakfast and simple meals, or to enhance the flavour of a dish or soup. Common dishes made with Toona paste are Chinese Mahogany fried rice, Chinese Mahogany beancurd, and Chinese Mahogany mushroom soup.
The leaves contain Vitamin E, and high amounts of iron, calcium and chlorophyll
Chlorophyll (also chlorophyl) is any of several related green pigments found in cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of algae and plants. Its name is derived from the Greek words , ("pale green") and , ("leaf"). Chlorophyll allow plants to ...
.
Material
The timber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...
is hard and reddish; it is valuable, used for furniture making[ and for bodies of electric guitars, as a common (and substantially cheaper) replacement for ''Swietenia'' mahogany ("true mahogany"), which is now commercially restricted from being sourced natively.
Outside its native region ''T. sinensis'' is valued more as a large ]ornamental tree
Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...
for its haggard aspect.[ It is by far the most cold-tolerant species in the Meliaceae and the only member of the family that can be cultivated successfully in northern ]Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
.
Medicine
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of acti ...
(TCM), the leaves of ''T. sinensis'' are beneficial for digestion and cough problems, and can help to stop bleeding.
Recent researches find out that polysaccharide
Polysaccharides (), or polycarbohydrates, are the most abundant carbohydrates found in food. They are long chain polymeric carbohydrates composed of monosaccharide units bound together by glycosidic linkages. This carbohydrate can react with w ...
s contained in ''T. sinensis'' leaves can protect liver cells in high-fat or high-carbohydrate diets. Quercetrin extracted from leaves is found to be one of natural antioxidant, and can act as an anticancer agent in breast, colon, prostate, ovary, endometrium, and lung tumor.
Potential danger
The leaves of ''T. sinensis'' has a relative high content of nitrite
The nitrite ion has the chemical formula . Nitrite (mostly sodium nitrite) is widely used throughout chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The nitrite anion is a pervasive intermediate in the nitrogen cycle in nature. The name nitrite also ...
, which is about 157 to 160 mg/kg. However, after boiling with water, the amount of nitrite left is only about 7 mg/kg, which is safe to eat. Because the content of nitrite will increase as time passes, ''T. sinensis'' leaves are not suitable for long time storage.
The quercetrin contained in ''T. sinensis'' leaves can induce cell cycle
The cell cycle, or cell-division cycle, is the series of events that take place in a cell that cause it to divide into two daughter cells. These events include the duplication of its DNA (DNA replication) and some of its organelles, and sub ...
arrest and lead to apoptosis
Apoptosis (from grc, ἀπόπτωσις, apóptōsis, 'falling off') is a form of programmed cell death that occurs in multicellular organisms. Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes ( morphology) and death. These changes in ...
of cells. Research on ''T. sinensis'' continues and more findings may be announced.
Culture
In Chinese literature, ''Toona sinensis'' is often used symbolically, with a mature tree representing a father. This manifests itself occasionally when expressing best wishes to a friend's father and mother in a letter, where one can write "wishing your ''Toona sinensis'' and daylily
A daylily or day lily is a flowering plant in the genus ''Hemerocallis'' , a member of the family Asphodelaceae, subfamily Hemerocallidoideae. Despite the common name, it is not in fact a lily. Gardening enthusiasts and horticulturists have lo ...
are strong and happy" (), with ''Toona sinensis'' metaphorically referring to the father and daylily to the mother.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q855853
sinensis
Leaf vegetables
Trees of China
Flora of tropical Asia