''Toona'', commonly known as redcedar, toon (also spelled tun) or toona, tooni (in India) is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

in the mahogany family,

Meliaceae Meliaceae, the mahogany family, is a flowering plant family of mostly trees and shrubs (and a few herbaceous plants, mangroves) in the order Sapindales. They are characterised by alternate, usually pinnate leaves without stipules, and by syncar ...

, native from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

south to

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 ...

, and east to

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 ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

and eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. 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

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America, North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. ...

Uses

Ornamental use

'' 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 } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

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 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 ...

, where it is sometimes planted as an

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 ...

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).

Wood source

Toona ciliata ''Toona ciliata'' is a forest tree in the mahogany family which grows throughout southern Asia from Afghanistan to Papua New Guinea and Australia. Names It is commonly known as the red cedar (a name shared by other trees), toon or toona (al ...

'' is an important

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 ...

tree. It provides a valuable

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

used for

furniture Furniture refers to movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating ( tables), storing items, eating and/or working with an item, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks) ...

, ornamental panelling,

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to bef ...

, and musical instruments like the

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form ...

rudra veena The ''Rudra veena'' ( sa, रुद्र वीणा) (also spelled ''Rudraveena'' or ''Rudra vina'')—also called ''Bīn'' in North India—is a large plucked string instrument used in Hindustani Music, especially dhrupad. It is one of the m ...

, and drums. Due to the restrictions in recent years on the use of natively-grown American mahogany, it has become one of the common mahogany replacements in electric guitar manufacturing.

Medicinal and culinary uses

'' Toona sinensis'' is used in Chinese traditional medicine and eaten as a vegetable or sauce in China (leaves and shoots).

Species

The following include accepted species in

the Plant List The Plant List was a list of botanical names of species of plants created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Missouri Botanical Garden and launched in 2010. It was intended to be a comprehensive record of all known names of plant species ...

: *'' Toona australis'' (F. Muell.) Harms *''

Toona calantas ''Toona calantas'' is a species of tree in the mahogany family. It is found in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. It is threatened by habitat loss. It is commonly known as kalantas (also spelled calantas), lanipga (in Visayan and Bikol), ...

'' Merr. & Rolfe – kalantas, Philippine mahogany, Philippine cedar *''

'' M.Roem. (syn. ''T. australis'') – Australian red cedar, Indian mahogany *''

Toona fargesii ''Toona fargesii'', or the Chinese common name hong hua xiang chun is a medium-sized deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to tr ...

'' A. Chev. – hong hua xiang chun *'' Toona sinensis'' (A.Juss.) M.Roem. – Chinese mahogany or Chinese toon *''

Toona sureni ''Toona sureni'' is a species of tree in the mahogany family. It is native to South Asia, Indochina, Malesia, China, and Papua New Guinea. It is commonly known as the suren toon, surian, limpaga, iron redwood or the red cedar (a name also shared ...

'' (Blume) Merr. (syn. ''T. febrifuga'') – Suren, Indonesian mahogany, Vietnamese mahogany

References

External links

University of Melbourne: Sorting ''Toona'' namesNew South Wales Flora Online
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2697430 Meliaceae genera