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[Bill Jones <billj AT harborside.com>]

There's one permaculture plant we still need to get.  Cedrela sinensis 
was sold for years under the name
"Chop Suey Tree" by Raintree Nursery and now they've discontinued it.  
It's also called the Chinese Toon.

I can't wait to try Chinese frittata made with lots of minced young 
Cedrela leaves and a dash of soy.

It's been branded a "non-native invasive" by fanatics.  Actually it has 
a sparse canopy that wouldn't inhibit
much of anything from growing underneath.  It would never survive in a 
dense forest of fir trees, nor on dry
open ground (here anyway).  But I have a perfect spot where it's both 
sunny and wet where it would
contast beautifully with the bamboos.

I can't find this plant anywhere now.  The plot thickens. There's a 
prominent article online about a study
showing that C. sinensis has a strong inhibitory effect on lung cancer 
cells.  I find it interesting that there's
been a concerted effort to eradicate this delicious ornamental with 
anti-cancer properties, just as this study
emerged.

At this point I've become rather militant about my right to grow nettle 
(the most useful spring green of all),
Acacia dealbata (wintertime source of honey and pollen, seed crop, and 
compost source), Geum urbanum
(perennial greens that are always available), etc.  I'm sick of hearing 
from ignorants who don't understand
that every cleared square inch was already covered in a non-native 
invasive: tall grass, buttercups, and
Himalayan blackberry.  If buttercups can somehow grow right next to my 
new beds, they WILL succeed in
ruining them, and the only defense I've found is Geum.  If only my 
non-native walnuts can beat back those
berry briars, I won't ask what continent they're from.

Bill
S. Oregon coast