Toona sinensis Seeds | Chinese Toon
LATIN NAME: Toona sinensis
COMMON NAME: Chinese Toon
Plant Profile
Chinese Toon (Toona sinensis) is a generous, easy, fast-growing tree. The Chinese toon is fast, handsome, aromatic tree of east, and its young, red-flushed leaves have been a fine, seasonal delicacy of kitchen for a very long time. Pale, reddish wood is fine and strong. It is a generous, easy, fast-growing tree of sunny, well-drained garden. Gardeners value it precisely for this blend of qualities.
Science & Biotechnology
Research touching on Toona sinensis ranges from the botany of the Toona group to practical horticulture, including seed handling, propagation and the selection of superior forms. The Chinese toon has a steady and growing place in plant science, and it has been studied for its fine, aromatic young leaves and its fast, easy growth. For researchers, plants like this one offer practical material for propagation studies and selection work.
Uses & Benefits
Gardeners value Chinese Toon for its ornamental character, and the plant also fits naturally into herb, vegetable and cutting gardens. The Chinese toon is grown for young, red-flushed leaves, and they are picked in spring and cooked into stir-fries, omelettes and salads, with a fine, onion-like fragrance that has made them a prized seasonal food of the east. Tree is also a fine, fast-growing timber tree with a pale, reddish, strong wood, and it makes a handsome, easy shade tree for sunny garden. It has been written up in horticultural and food papers for its edible shoots and its fast growth, and it is a generous, easy tree of the east. Once it has settled, the workload drops to almost nothing.
Chinese toon’s spring shoots, xiangchun, are a prized oniony delicacy rich in polyphenols, and its mahogany wood is fragrant and durable; it is one of the few trees grown as a leaf vegetable.
Growing from Seed
Seed is the natural starting point for Chinese Toon, and the process is uncomplicated. Scatter the seed evenly over a loose seed compost, cover to no more than its own depth, and keep the pot moist and bright. Shift the seedlings into small pots as soon as they can be handled, and give them bright light until planting-out time.
Our Take
Once established, Chinese Toon largely looks after itself. Established seedlings need little beyond ordinary attention.
Related Reading
Readers interested in Chinese Toon frequently explore these as well: