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Cedrela sinensis Juss.

Chinese Cedar

Modern name

Toona sinensis (Juss.) M.Roem.

Synonyms

Ailanthus flavescens Carr.; Toona sinensis (Juss.) Roem.

A handsome deciduous tree reaching 60 to 70 ft in height in China, and at present more than half as high in Britain; young branchlets downy; old bark peeling off in long strips. Leaves pinnate, 1 to 2 ft long, composed of from five to twelve pairs of leaflets, often of even numbers on one leaf (paripinnate). Leaflets very shortly stalked, 212 to 4 in. long, ovate-lanceolate, the apex drawn out into a long fine point, the base unequal at each side the midrib, ultimately nearly or quite glabrous. Flowers in terminal panicles 1 ft long, whitish, fragrant, short-stalked. Fruit a capsule about 1 in. long; seeds winged.

Although known to botanists since 1743, this tree was not introduced to Europe until 1862. It was at first called “Ailanthus flavescens”, but is easily distinguished from true Ailanthus by the entire margins of the leaflets and the absence of glandular teeth there. It is a native of N. and W. China, and in the latter region many seeds were collected by Wilson on his last journey. As is the case with nearly all trees of timber-producing size, this is best raised from seed, but failing them, root-cuttings may be employed. It is said to thrive well in calcareous soils. The young shoots and leaves have an oniony taste and are boiled and eaten as a vegetable by the Chinese. By far the largest specimen recorded grows at Heligan, Cornwall, which measures 90 × 814 ft (1959). Others are: Nettlecombe, Somerset, 65 × 712 ft (1959); Kew, pl. 1907, 52 × 614 ft(1965). The tree in the Berberis Dell at Kew first flowered in 1947.



From the Supplement (Vol. V)

specimens: Kew, 56 × 714 ft (1976); Wakehurst Place, Sussex, 66 × 814 ft at 3 ft (1973); Aldenham Park, Essex, 60 × 514 ft (1976); University Botanic Garden, Cambridge, 60 × 612 ft (1984); Hergest Croft, Heref., 88 × 7 ft (1985); Mount Edgecumbe, Cornwall, 60 × 6 ft (1971); Edinburgh Botanic Garden, 46 × 312 ft (1985); National Botanic Garden, Glasnevin, Eire, from Wilson 185, 34 × 614 ft (1974); Birr Castle, Co. Offaly, Eire, 69 × 612 ft (1985).

cv. ‘Flamingo’. – Young foliage pink. Cultivated in the R.H.S. Garden, Wisley. See the note by Hugh Redgrove in The Garden (Journ. R.H.S.), Vol. 110, pp. 344-5 (1985).

Genus

Cedrela

Other species in the genus

[No species article available]