Perennial Plant Profiles

Cedrella sinensis, Fragrant spring tree

We can think of at least 180 great forest garden & perennial crops for cold climate Sweden.  Want to hear about them? Over the course of the next year we will profile 5 a week on the blog. Perennial plants and crops offer a low energy, oil & resource input based foundation for future-proof agricultures. By default if an agriculture is to be called regenerative the bottom line is that it must be soil building, not soil depleting. Relentless deep tillage & poor soil husbandry (wifery?!) contributes to the majority of the 24 billion tons of topsoil lost every year on planet water.  We are going to be focused on holistic polyculture grazing and perennial production at ridgedale over most of the site as this represents the most effective way to restore our degraded landscape, produce high value produce and ensure the future resource base we are managing holistically for in our decision making. 

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Genus Cedrella
Species sinensis
Common Name Fragrant spring tree, Chinese Mahogany/ Chinese Cedar/ 香椿
Form large tree
Habit running
Origin Asia
Light sun
Moisture mesic 
Edible greens, fodder
Nitrogen medium

The young leaves are extensively used as a vegetable in China; they have a floral, yet onion-like flavor. Plants with red young leaves are considered of better flavor than those where the young leaves are green. Young shoots and leaves are cooked, rich in vitamin A, the leaves also contain about 6% protein, 1% fat, 6.6% carbohydrate, 1.5% ash. The leaves can be used as a tea substitute.

The timber is hard and reddish; it is valuable, used for furniture making and for bodies of electric guitars. Being a "true mahogany", it is the most sought after replacement for Swietenia mahogany ("genuine mahogany") which is now commercially restricted from being sourced natively.

Outside of its native region it is valued more as a large ornamental tree for its haggard aspect. 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.

The bark is astringent, carminative, febrifuge, ophthalmic and styptic. A decoction is used in the treatment of diarrhoea, chronic dysentery, flatulence, bloody stools, seminal emissions, leucorrhoea, metrorrhagia and gonorrhoea.

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OUR FRIENDS AT PFAF HAVE AN AMAZING DATABASE OF SPECIES (UK BASED);

Cedrella sinensis

We're giving away a free copy of Edible Forest Gardens 2 this week- find us on Facebook, share the link and comment and ridgedale Yohanna will pick out a lucky winner at the end of the week.

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