Toona sinensis

The young leaves of T. sinensis (xiāngchūn) are extensively used as a vegetable in China; they have a floral, yet onion-like flavor, attributed to volatile organosulfur compounds.[10] Plants with red young leaves are considered of better flavour than those where the young leaves are green.[4][11][12]

In China and Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, the young leaves of Toona sinensis or commonly known as Chinese Mahogany is used to make Toona paste, which is used as a condiment to serve with plain rice porridge as breakfast and simple meals, or to enhance the flavour of a dish or soup. Common dishes made with Toona paste are Chinese Mahogany fried rice, Chinese Mahogany beancurd, and Chinese Mahogany mushroom soup.

The timber is hard and reddish; it is valuable, used for furniture making[4][9] and for bodies of electric guitars. Being a "true mahogany" (mahogany other than Swietenia), it is one of the common replacements for Swietenia mahogany ("genuine mahogany") which is now commercially restricted from being sourced natively.[13]

Outside its native region T. sinensis is valued more as a large ornamental tree for its haggard aspect.[8][14] It is by far the most cold-tolerant species in the Meliaceae and the only member of the family that can be cultivated successfully in northern Europe.

In Chinese literature, Toona sinensis is often used for a rather extreme metaphor, with a mature tree representing a father. This manifests itself occasionally when expressing best wishes to a friend's father and mother in a letter, where one can write "wishing your Toona sinensis and daylily are strong and happy" (simplified Chinese: 椿萱并茂; traditional Chinese: 椿萱並茂; pinyin: chūnxuānbìngmào), with Toona sinensis metaphorically referring to the father and daylily to the mother.