Scientific Name : Toona sinensis (A. Juss.) M. Roem.
Common Name : Chinese Mahogany, Chinese Toona
Chinese Name : 香椿
Family : MELIACEAE
Local distribution status : Exotic species
| Origin | Other than North-Central, South-Central and Southeast China, the tree is also native to the Eastern Himalaya and Southeast Asian countries, such as Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. |
|---|---|
| Application | Chinese Mahogany serves a host of functions. The young leaves are a delicacy and the primary source of the leaf of Chinese Mahogany, a traditional Chinese medicine which is effective to treat nausea, vomiting, poor appetite and diarrhea. The flowers are collected for flower of Chinese Mahogany which can attenuate long-lasting coughing and the fruits Xiangchunzi can mitigate exogenous wind-cold and dysentery. Its wood is an outstanding material for making furniture by virtue of its great flexibility, strength and resistance to decay. |
| Meaning of names | Chinese Mahogany can grow to a lofty height and survive for ages. Therefore, it has been always bonded to longevity in Chinese culture. For example, ‘千椿’ and ‘椿壽’ are words for blessing someone a longer life. ‘椿’ can be also used for a family title. Rumour has it that Confucius’s son tiptoed quietly across the yard (庭) away from his father’s room, to just not disturb him from thinking. Since ‘椿’ in the past meant father or elders, people thus blended ‘椿’ and ‘庭’, and strictly referred ‘椿庭’ to father to commemorate the respect from Confucius’s son to his father. Since Hemerocallis fulva (Day-Lily, 萱草), which is a species in Liliaceae, metaphorically referred to mother in the past, the Chinese always describes ‘椿(father)萱(mother)并(both)茂(thrive)’ when their parents are still healthy. The specific epithet sinensis describes its origin from China. |
| Old and Valuable Tree (OVT) | The Chinese Mahogany in Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens has been registered as a OVT (LCSD CW/53), with measured diameter at breast height (DBH) at 870 mm, height at 17 m and crown spread at 12 m. |
| Growing habit | Deciduous tree. |
|---|---|
| Height | To 25 m. |
| Roots | Buttressed. |
| Stem | Bark grey to dark brown, coarse, peeling off in flakes, garlic and pepper smells when chopped. |
| Leaves | Paripinnately compound, alternate, leaflets 14-28, opposite or alternate. Blade papery, glabrous, ovate-lanceolate to oblong-elliptic, base asymmetric, apex caudate to acute, margin sparsely serrate or rarely entire, midrib and lateral veins prominent on abaxial surface, lateral veins 18-24 pairs. |
| Flowers | Panicles about the length of leaf blade, or longer than leaf blade, axillary. Flowers are small, petals 5, white or pink. Monoecious. |
| Fruits | Capsules narrowly elliptic or ovoid, turning dark brown at maturity. Seeds Brown, with long membranous wings at upper end. |
| Flowering period | June to August in Hong Kong. |
| Fruiting period | October to December in Hong Kong. |
Scientific name above is based on Hong Kong Herbarium website: https://herbarium.gov.hk/en/hk-plant-database/plant-detail/index.html?pType=species&oID=7009
Scientific names from other databases:
― Flora of China: Toona sinensis (A. Jussieu) M. Roemer
― Plants of the World Online: Toona sinensis (Juss.) M.Roem.