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Toona

  • Toona australis - Australian Redcedar
  • Toona calantas - Philippine Mahogany
  • Toona ciliata - Indian Mahogany
  • Toona febrifuga - Vietnam Mahogany
  • Toona sinensis - Chinese Mahogany
  • Toona sureni - Indonesian Mahogany

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

Toona australis and T. ciliata are important timber trees, providing a valuable hardwood used for furniture, ornamental panelling, shipbuilding, etc. Some 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. It is the only member of the family that can be cultivated successfully in northern Europe, where it is planted as an ornamental tree in parks and avenues.

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.



07-14-2008 23:18:10
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