Plant · P-573

Yellowhorn

Xanthoceras sorbifolium

Yellowhorn is a slow-growing shrub or small tree from northern China, grown almost entirely for its pea-sized seed, which tastes like sweet chestnut and presses into an oil so rich - 40 to 72 percent by weight - that it ranks among the highest-yielding oilseeds of any tree crop. The oil also carries a notable share of nervonic acid, a very long chain fatty acid rarely found in food oils. Its fragrant white spring flowers and young leaves are edible too, cooked or used in teas and salads. It needs real summer heat to ripen its wood and set flower buds - even where winters are cold enough for it, a cool summer means a poor fruit set.