Xiuning Fragrant Torreya

Xiuning Fragrant Torreya

　　　　Xiuning Fragrant Torreya: Fragrant Torreya is a famous high-mountain dried fruit, also known as "Jade Mountain Fruit." The variety produced in Xiuning County, Huangshan, is the most renowned. Xiuning Fragrant Torreya boasts three exceptional qualities — fragrance, crispness, and crunchiness. Its flesh is golden yellow, deliciously fragrant and crispy, making it highly prized. In townships such as Sixi, Jilian, and Hongxing in Xiuning County, there is a large number of Fragrant Torreya trees, earning the reputation of “fine trees on a thousand peaks, torreya forests in ten thousand ravines,” and deep in the mountains, there are also thousand-year-old ancient torreya trees. Unlike ordinary fruit trees, the fruit of the torreya tree takes three full years to mature after forming, which is why it has extremely high nutritional value.

　　　　Xiuning Fragrant Torreya is produced in Sixi, nestled among the southwestern peaks of Huangshan. Here, the torreya trees are unique — their leaves resemble those of fir trees, their wood that of cypress, and their grain that of pine. Clusters of olive-like fruits hang abundantly from the branches, with new leaves growing from the tips of old ones, and next year’s small fruits forming where two leaves meet. Even the tips of the smaller leaves show buds for the fruits of the year after next — truly a “gathering of three generations.”

　　 　　Xiuning Fragrant Torreya trees mostly grow along mountain streams and valley slopes. The Jiaya River Valley in Sixi remains shrouded in clouds and mist year-round, cool and damp, fostering these rare mountain fruits. Every year during Cold Dew season, Sixi becomes bustling with the lively harvest of fragrant torreya. There are two types of torreya here: one is larger in size with a pointed end, while the other is smaller and rounder, called “Monk Torreya.” Monk Torreya has a thin shell, and its outer husk easily peels off. Its kernel is not only fragrant, crispy, and delicious but can also be sliced thinly. Historically, the kernels of this type of torreya were even offered as tribute.

　　 　　Fragrant Torreya is delicious, crispy, and rich in nutrients. Su Dongpo praised it, saying: “That beautiful Jade Mountain fruit, shining brilliantly on a golden plate.” The Compendium of Materia Medica states: “It strengthens tendons and bones, invigorates circulation, improves eyesight and lightens the body; it sinks five hemorrhoids and expels three parasites.”

　　 Fragrant Torreya, also known as "Jade Mountain Fruit," is produced in various counties of Huizhou near Huangshan. Xiuning Fragrant Torreya excels in fragrance, crispness, and crunchiness — the “three absolutes” — making it the most valuable. In the deep forests and mountains at elevations of 350–700 meters in townships like Sixi, Jilian, and Hongxing in Xiuning County, Fragrant Torreya trees are widely distributed. They may grow in small clusters or form lush torreya groves, hence the area has long been praised as “fine trees on a thousand peaks, torreya forests in ten thousand ravines.”

　　 Xiuning Fragrant Torreya enjoys a rich variety of cultivars, leading the nation. Common varieties include Small Round Torreya, Round Torreya, Rice Torreya, Little Rice Torreya, Long Torreya, Wooden Torreya, Goat Horn Torreya, and Muscle-Cramp Torreya. Among them, the most famous are “Monk Torreya,” “Peanut Torreya,” “Leaf-Laugh Torreya,” and “Goat Horn Torreya,” collectively referred to as the “Four Famous Doyennes.” Monk Torreya belongs to the Small Round Torreya category. It is small and round, with a thin shell and easily removable husk. Its kernel is not only deliciously fragrant and crispy but can also be sliced without breaking — a fruit of superior quality. Peanut Torreya is a recently discovered superior variety. Its fruits do not require salting or roasting and can be eaten straight from the tree, with the husk naturally coming off on its own. Xiuning Fragrant Torreya has a golden-yellow flesh, is crispy and delicious, and is nutritionally rich. Tests show it contains 42% oil, 10% protein, 28% carbohydrates, as well as beneficial elements like calcium, phosphorus, and iron. Ancient sources say torreya is an excellent lung-moistening fruit, effective for cough relief, qi regulation, hemorrhoid reduction, and parasite expulsion. Modern medicine has discovered anti-cancer properties in Fragrant Torreya. China has already extracted resin alkaloids from the closely related Torreya grandis to produce medicine for treating leukemia.