''Xanthoceras sorbifolium'', the yellowhorn, shiny leaf yellowhorn, goldenhorn, or Chinese flowering chestnut, is a woody oil tree species in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Sapindaceae The Sapindaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales known as the soapberry family. It contains 138 genera and 1858 accepted species. Examples include horse chestnut, maples, ackee and lychee. The Sapindaceae occur in temp ...

, and the only species in the genus ''Xanthoceras''. It is native to northern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

in the provinces of

Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibe ...

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is a ...

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmo ...

, Nei Monggol,

Ningxia Ningxia (,; , ; alternately romanized as Ninghsia), officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR), is an autonomous region in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in 1 ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...

, and

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in His ...

. It is also cultivated in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

, having been imported there since the 19th Century. The genus name ''Xanthoceras'' (which translates as "yellow horn") is considered to be the most basal member of the family Sapindaceae.Harrington, M. G., Edwards, K. J., Johnson, S. A., Mark W. Chase, M. W., & Gadek, P. A. (2005). Phylogenetic inference in Sapindaceae ''sensu lato'' using plastid ''mat''K and ''rbc''L DNA sequences. ''Systematic Botany'' 30 (2): 366-382
Abstract.
/ref> The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bo ...

''sorbifolium'' refers to the leaves, which resemble those of the distantly related

rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus'' of the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the Himalaya ...

s (''Sorbus''). It was originally spelled ''sorbifolia'', but this is a grammatical error that was corrected to ''sorbifolium'' under the

ICBN The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all those "trad ...

. ''X. sorbifolium'' is an ancient tree species. It is said it can live up to 2,000 years. It is a sacred tree planted in temples in northern China, because there is no

Ficus religiosa ''Ficus religiosa'' or sacred fig is a species of fig native to the Indian subcontinent and Indochina that belongs to Moraceae, the fig or mulberry family. It is also known as the bodhi tree, pippala tree, peepul tree, peepal tree, pipal tree ...

in the north. It is also used in traditional Chinese, Mongolian and Tibetan medicine. In Bencao Gangmu, it is called '天仙果Heavenly Fairy Fruit'. Tenacious ''X. sorbifolium'' can grow in snow and drought like in

Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert ( Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world. Geography The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast a ...

. Each organ of ''X. sorbifolium'' can provide multiple uses. It has very high alimentaire value, medicinal value, ornamental value and ecological value. In cultivation in the UK, ''X. sorbifolium'' has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

Description

It is a large

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

shrub or small tree growing to 8 m tall. The leaves are arranged alternately, 12–30 cm long, and are pinnate, with 9–17 leaflets, the leaflets 3–6 cm long, with a sharply serrated margin.University of British Columbi
Asian Garden Photos: ''Xanthoceras sorbifolium''
/ref> The flowers are 2–3 cm in diameter, with five white petals, and are produced in erect

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

s 10–20 cm long in mid spring. The fruit is an oval leathery capsule 5–6 cm diameter, which splits into three sections at maturity to release the 6–18 seeds; the seeds are black, 1.5 cm in diameter, resembling a small horse chestnut seed.Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan .University of British Columbi
Botany Photo of the Day, August 31, 2006: ''Xanthoceras sorbifolia'' and ''Aesculus hippocastanum''
/ref>The shells of the fruits and seeds are very hard, so that they are best protected during the growth process. Generally, ''X. sorbifolium'' only blooms white flowers. In the process of multiple crosses performed by the '西北文冠果基地 Northwest ''X. sorbifolium'' base' ("using 56 seeds of ''X.sorbifolium'' from all over the country to make them natural hybrids, in order to increase fruit yield"), unexpectedly, the flower color also changed from single to multiple.

Uses

*The leaves, flowers, and seeds of yellowhorn are all edible.Plants for a Future Databas
''Xanthoceras sorbifolium''
/ref> "Both the pulp and the kernel can be eaten raw or used as an ingredient for cooking". "The kernels taste like chestnuts". "Both are nutritious". "Ripe seeds can produce protein drinks". ''X.sorbifolium'' has "a long flowering period, fragrant flowers, large nectar content, and rich

reducing sugar A reducing sugar is any sugar that is capable of acting as a reducing agent. In an alkaline solution, a reducing sugar forms some aldehyde or ketone, which allows it to act as a reducing agent, for example in Benedict's reagent. In such a reacti ...

, it is a high-quality

nectar source A nectar source is a flowering plant that produces nectar as part of its reproductive strategy. These plants create nectar, which attract pollinating insects and sometimes other animals such as birds. Nectar source plants are important for beekee ...

in early spring in the north" of China. It is worthwhile for beekeepers to produce honey with a special flavor. According to medical research papers on ''X. sorbifolium'' in the United States and China, "the fruit peel extract can inhibit the cells of ovary cancer,

cervical cancer Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later symptoms may include abnormal ...

and

Melanoma Melanoma, also redundantly known as malignant melanoma, is a type of skin cancer that develops from the pigment-producing cells known as melanocytes. Melanomas typically occur in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye ( ...

".The husk has two major values: "the raw material of

furfural Furfural is an organic compound with the formula C4H3OCHO. It is a colorless liquid, although commercial samples are often brown. It has an aldehyde group attached to the 2-position of furan. It is a product of the dehydration of sugars, as occur ...

, which has a wide range of industrial uses", and "the raw material for medicines for treating

urinary system The urinary system, also known as the urinary tract or renal system, consists of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and the urethra. The purpose of the urinary system is to eliminate waste from the body, regulate blood volume and blood pressure, c ...

diseases". *The oil content of the seeds is 40%, and the oil content of the kernels is 66.8%. The

unsaturated fat An unsaturated fat is a fat or fatty acid in which there is at least one double bond within the fatty acid chain. A fatty acid chain is monounsaturated if it contains one double bond, and polyunsaturated if it contains more than one double bond ...

of oil is as high as 94%. "Its

saturated fat A saturated fat is a type of fat in which the fatty acid chains have all single bonds. A fat known as a glyceride is made of two kinds of smaller molecules: a short glycerol backbone and fatty acids that each contain a long linear or branche ...

content is 1.78 times lower than that of olive oil and 1.9 times lower than that of peanut oil". "Its quality is better than peanut oil and sesame oil, and its health care effect is also unmatched by salad oil and olive oil". ''X. sorbifolium'' oil is rich in nervonic acid (2.6%~5%), according to a medical research report in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

, "after taking ''X. sorbifolium'' oil for 3 months,

stroke A stroke is a disease, medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemorr ...

sequelae,

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As ...

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms beco ...

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sens ...

cerebral atrophy Cerebral atrophy is a common feature of many of the diseases that affect the brain. Atrophy of any tissue means a decrement in the size of the cell, which can be due to progressive loss of cytoplasmic proteins. In brain tissue, atrophy describes ...

head injury A head injury is any injury that results in trauma to the skull or brain. The terms ''traumatic brain injury'' and ''head injury'' are often used interchangeably in the medical literature. Because head injuries cover such a broad scope of inju ...

, memory loss and other

encephalopathy Encephalopathy (; from grc, ἐνκέφαλος "brain" + πάθος "suffering") means any disorder or disease of the brain, especially chronic degenerative conditions. In modern usage, encephalopathy does not refer to a single disease, but r ...

have an average effective rate of 92.8%". In addition, "the average tumor inhibition rate of ''X. sorbifolium'' oil on S180 is 82.94%, which is equivalent to the tumor inhibition effect of

cyclophosphamide Cyclophosphamide (CP), also known as cytophosphane among other names, is a medication used as chemotherapy and to suppress the immune system. As chemotherapy it is used to treat lymphoma, multiple myeloma, leukemia, ovarian cancer, breast cancer ...

, but without the toxin of cyclophosphamide". The "meal" after oil extraction is rich in protein, and "can be used as high-protein food, animal feed, or extract hydrolyzed protein and

amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha ...

". "Amino acids extracted from ''X. sorbifolium'' are complete

essential amino acid An essential amino acid, or indispensable amino acid, is an amino acid that cannot be synthesized from scratch by the organism fast enough to supply its demand, and must therefore come from the diet. Of the 21 amino acids common to all life form ...

". "The nutritional value and absorption rate of ''X.sorbifolium'' protein are higher than soy protein and sunflower seed protein, close to

casein Casein ( , from Latin ''caseus'' "cheese") is a family of related phosphoproteins ( αS1, aS2, β, κ) that are commonly found in mammalian milk, comprising about 80% of the proteins in cow's milk and between 20% and 60% of the proteins in hum ...

". *"Branches and trunk are effective medicines for treating

rheumatism Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including ar ...

". The leaves can be used to make tea, "which can

diuresis Diuresis () is increased urination (polyuria) or, in the related word senses more often intended, the physiological process that produces such an increase or the administration of medications to encourage that process. It involves extra urine pr ...

, remove rheumatism, and lower blood pressure". It also has "the effects of sterilization, anti-inflammatory, reducing fat, anti-oxidation"... etc. "The leaves contain 19.18% to 23% protein, which is higher than that of

black tea Black tea, also translated to red tea in various East Asian languages, is a type of tea that is more oxidized than oolong, yellow, white and green teas. Black tea is generally stronger in flavour than other teas. All five types are made from ...

, and the caffeine content is close to that of scented tea".

"One thousand flowers one fruit"

''X.sorbifolium'' has a long history and is distributed in a wide area, but few people knew about it. In 2000, no information about it could be found on the Internet. Also in this year, a person who will be hailed as the "pioneer of the ''X. sorbifolium'' industry" appeared. His name is 马成福/Ma Chengfu, a reportage writer who pays attention to ecology and people's livelihood. His works "《流血的石羊河》/The Bleeding Shiyang River" and "《只有和谐是良药》/Only Harmony Is the Best Medicine" have been compiled into college textbooks. Ma Chengfu was born in August 1968 in a poor farmer's family in

Jingtai County Jingtai County () is a county in the middle of Gansu Province, bordering Inner Mongolia to the north. It is under the administration of Baiyin City and located at its northwest end. Covering an area of , it governs 8 towns and 3 townships, whi ...

. Jingtai is located at the eastern end of the

Hexi Corridor The Hexi Corridor (, Xiao'erjing: حْسِ ظِوْلاْ, IPA: ), also known as the Gansu Corridor, is an important historical region located in the modern western Gansu province of China. It refers to a narrow stretch of traversable and rela ...

and south of the Tengger Desert. Since childhood, he suffered from drought, water shortage, and sandstorm in the desert climate. This is why he has been thinking about whether there is a tree species that can improve the ecological environment of his hometown and create economic benefits at the same time. To this end, he traveled all over the Hexi Corridor. During a visit in 2000, at the edge of the barren Tengger Desert, Ma Chengfu suddenly saw some trees that grow well and bear fruit'' (at the time he didn't know the trees were ''X.sorbifolium''), which immediately raised his confidence again. Since then, he has embarked on a long journey of R&D and entrepreneurship of ''X.sorbifolium'' without fear of hardships. There are two main reasons why ''X.sorbifolium'' has not been developed into a commercial crop in the past: difficulty in transplanting and low fruiting rate. "千花一果/One thousand flowers one fruit" should be a pity for it in the past. After repeated failures, Ma Chengfu solved these two problems and developed the high-yield and high-quality ''X.sorbifolium''. The ''X.sorbifolium'' seedlings cultivated by Ma Chengfu's team have gone out of Gansu, spread to Northwest, Northeast, and North China, and introduced to

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of t ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with it ...

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The p ...

and other southern regions. In the past two decades, ''X.sorbifolium'' has also attracted other R&D teams. For example, in

Qiu County Qiu may refer to: *Qiū (surname), Chinese surnames *Qiú (surname), Chinese surnames * Qiu County, in Hebei, China *Kǒng Qiū (), better known as Confucius *''Qiu!'', a 2005 album by the ambient post-rock band Windsor Airlift Windsor Airlift ...

, the planting area in 2018 has reached several thousand "亩/666.67m2". China's first ''X.sorbifolium'' research and development, processing, and sales enterprise also appeared in Qiu County, and achieved a multi-win situation of ecological, economic, and social benefits. In April 2021, the "''X.sorbifolium'' Industry Development and Medicinal Value Summit Forum" was held in Qiu County, expecting to attract more entrepreneurs to develop the economic value and medicinal value of ''X.sorbifolium'', and create an industry-university-research cooperation platform to promote scientific research and innovation achievements. File:Xanthoceras sorbifolia, Arnold Arboretum - IMG 6061.JPG File:Xanthoceras sorbifolia, Arnold Arboretum - IMG 6057.JPG File:Xanthoceras sorbifolium 01.JPG

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13418151 Monotypic Sapindaceae genera Flora of China Trees of Korea Sapindaceae Taxa named by Alexander von Bunge