Cultivation Techniques and Utilization Methods of the Chinese Parasol Tree

As an ancient native tree species, the Chinese parasol tree is mostly planted in courtyards, and it has a legendary quality because of the tale of the Chinese parasol tree attracting the phoenix. However, it is rarely used as a timber tree; according to records, its wood is used to make boxes and musical instruments.

I. About the beautiful legend

Mentioning the legend of the Chinese parasol tree attracting the phoenix brings to mind the fine saying, "Plant Chinese parasol trees, and golden phoenixes will come." Legend has it that the phoenix likes to perch in the Chinese parasol tree. In ancient times, it symbolized a good young man, who need not worry that no girl would marry him. In the new era, it has been given new meaning. As long as the environment is good, people will come to invest. The Chinese parasol tree has become a symbol of beauty. It is said that in ancient times an old man went out to take care of some business and on the way happened to meet a group of children laughing and scrambling to pick the fruit of the Chinese parasol tree. Moved by the scene, the old man casually recited the fine lines, "Children strike the tongzi, the tongzi fall; the tongzi strike the children, the children laugh." Poets expressed their feelings through falling leaves, issuing such lines as "When chrysanthemums bloom and fade beside the sparse fence, leaves fall from the withered tong tree into the cold well," and "When the Chinese parasol leaves fall, autumn is already deep; the cold moon and clear light bring endless sorrow." In fact, leaf fall is not the aging of the tree, but the tree adapting to its environment.

II. The Chinese parasol tree in dendrology

The Chinese parasol tree, also known as qingtong, is a deciduous tree in the genus Firmiana of the family Sterculiaceae. Young trees have green bark, and the branchlets are stout; they are green, the leaves are heart-shaped, palmately 3-5 lobed, the lobes entire, and the petiole is as long as the leaf blade; the inflorescence is paniculate, the fruit pericarp splits open into a leaf-like, spatulate form, and there are 2-4 seeds. It is produced from south of the Yellow River basin to Taiwan, China, and Hainan. It is light-demanding, drought-tolerant, and calcium-loving, and can also grow in acidic and neutral soils, but it dislikes waterlogging. The wood is light; the leaves, flowers, fruit, and seeds are used as medicine and have the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying; the seeds can be eaten and pressed for oil. The trunk form is graceful and growth is rapid, making it a garden landscaping tree species.

III. The past of the Chinese parasol tree

The Chinese parasol tree has a tall, upright trunk and a graceful form. It is often planted as a solitary specimen, or planted in pairs in front of gates and courtyards, and some are planted in rows along both sides of roads as street trees, or 3-5 trees can be planted to form a landscape. The Chinese parasol tree is straight and tall, and its crown is as broad as a canopy. "A single tree stands like green jade, a thousand leaves gather like green clouds." These two lines of poetry vividly describe the green leaves and green trunk of the Chinese parasol tree and the charm of its swaying shade. Whether in the growing season or the dormant season, the landscape is beautiful. For many reasons, the Chinese parasol tree has been limited to ornamental use and has not been used for large-scale afforestation, so the utilization of its wood is even less discussed, and the collection, processing, and use of its seeds have also attracted no attention.

IV. The recent situation of the Chinese parasol tree

In recent years, the author has collected relevant materials on the Chinese parasol tree and, taking advantage of forestry project construction opportunities, carried out seedling introduction and afforestation. Through experiments and observation, the author believes that the Chinese parasol tree has great development and utilization value. In addition to consolidating its position in landscaping, the processing and utilization of its wood should be increased, as should the processing and utilization of its seeds as food and oil materials.

1. Utilization of wood

Although the Chinese parasol tree has a beautiful legend and fine sayings, the tree stock of this species has always been very low. Propagation of the Chinese parasol tree is not difficult; the only issue is that when seed propagation is carried out, the seedlings grow slowly in the first two years. The survival rate of planted Chinese parasol tree seedlings is high, and they grow quickly, have straight trunks, and suffer few pests and diseases. The wood is fine in texture, white in color, dense, and fine-grained. It can be used to make musical instruments and furniture, and is very suitable as a raw material for processing plywood.

(1) Cultivating knot-free volume timber: The Chinese parasol tree differs from other tree species and has a property similar to that of poplar, namely that the terminal bud of the seedling does not die. Because of its strong natural ability to continue extending the trunk, even if headless seedlings are planted in afforestation, the trunk can naturally continue during growth to form a straight main trunk. The Chinese parasol tree has few side branches, so with only slight shaping and pruning it can be cultivated into knot-free volume timber, laying a solid foundation for the processing and utilization of its wood.

(2) Fast growth and superior wood quality: Through surveys of Chinese parasol trees planted sporadically in the past and in contiguous stands in recent years, it truly deserves to be called a fast-growing tree species. The annual growth of the Chinese parasol tree is not inferior to that of ordinary poplar. Under good management conditions, annual height growth is 2 m and annual diameter at breast height growth is 3-4 cm. The heartwood of the Chinese parasol tree is white in color, and the wood grain is clear. In ancient times it was mostly used to make musical instruments. The wood fibers are long, and even its bark can be used to weave rope. Therefore, the veneer raw material produced by rotary cutting of Chinese parasol tree wood for making plywood is not only suitable for core boards, but even more suitable for the face veneer of plywood, which poplar cannot match.

(3) Few pests and diseases, easy management: The Chinese parasol tree is a pest- and disease-resistant tree species. According to many years of observation, the Chinese parasol tree suffers only a small amount of damage from leaf-eating pests, and has no pests that harm the branches and trunk. Unlike poplar, which, in addition to damage from various leaf-eating pests, also suffers from canker disease, bark splitting disease, and various longhorn beetles that harm the branches and trunk, causing the veneer rotary-cut from the trunk to be fragmented and full of insect holes, greatly reducing the utilization value and economic value of poplar wood.

Therefore, the Chinese parasol tree is more suitable as a raw material for cultivating plywood. In addition, it grows quickly, has few pests and diseases, and is relatively easy to plant and manage.

2. Utilization of seeds

After the seeds of the Chinese parasol tree mature, they can be eaten raw or stir-fried, and they taste sweet and fragrant. The seeds contain 36.69% fatty oil, 4.85% ash, 3.69% crude fiber, 23.3% protein, and 28.45% nitrogen-free substances, and also contain caffeine and other substances, and can be processed into industrial oil.

V. The future of the Chinese parasol tree

The future of the Chinese parasol tree has three major prospects: first, a collaborative organization should be established to carry out a nationwide survey of Chinese parasol tree seed resources and select and breed varieties with faster growth rates; second, do a good job in cutting propagation of Chinese parasol tree seedlings to solve the problems of slow seed propagation and slow initial growth; third, do a good job in deep processing of Chinese parasol tree wood and seeds to extend the industrial chain.