TOONA

'''Toona''' is a genus of five or six species of trees in the mahogany family Meliaceae, native from eastern China south to India, southeast Asia and northern Australia.

★ ''Toona australis'' - Australian Red Cedar

★ ''Toona calantas'' - Kalantas or Philippine Mahogany

★ ''Toona ciliata'' - Toon, Suren or Indian Mahogany

★ ''Toona febrifuga'' - Vietnam Mahogany

★ ''Toona sinensis'' - Chinese Mahogany or Chinese Toon

★ ''Toona sureni'' - Suren or Indonesian Mahogany
''Toona australis'' and ''T. ciliata'' are important timber trees, providing a valuable hardwood used for furniture, ornamental panelling, shipbuilding, etc. Many authorities treat these two as the same species, under the name ''T. ciliata''.

''Toona sinensis'' is of interest as by far the most cold-tolerant species in the Meliaceae, native in China as far north as 40°N in the Beijing area, where its tender shoots, called ''xiangchun'' (), are a traditional local leaf vegetable. It is the only member of the family that can be cultivated successfully in northern Europe, where it is sometimes planted as an ornamental tree in parks and avenues. Until recently, it had no widespread English common name, though Chinese Mahogany (reflecting its botanical relationship) is now used (e.g. Rushforth 1999).
In older texts, the genus was often incorporated within a wider circumscription of the related genus ''Cedrela'', but that genus is now restricted to species from the New World.
The largest recorded Australian Red Cedar grew near Nulla Nulla Creek, west of Kempsey, New South Wales and was felled in 1883.

Contents

References and external links

References and external links

★ Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain and Europe''. HarperCollins, London.

★ University of Melbourne: Sorting ''Toona'' names

★ New England, The Wilderness Society, Armidale Branch