Chinese Toon Trees [Toona sinensis] or [Cedrella sinensis]

This is a beautiful pink tree at Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens, in Santa Barbara. There was no name on it like most of the plants in the gardens, and every time we go lately we see people trying to figure out what it is. Thanks to the Internet we were able to track it down.

Apparently the bright pink foliage is a springtime thing. If you look closely at the plants you can see them starting to fade to green at places.

This plant is actually used as a vegetable and in traditional Chinese medicine. 'Course that would not be the woody parts. They use them as young shoots, or even smaller, like bean sprouts.