Fei Zi

Torreya grandis is an evergreen coniferous tree in the Taxaceae, endemic to subtropical mountainous regions of eastern China, particularly Zhejiang and adjacent provinces, where it grows on shaded slopes between 200 and 1400 meters. Mature trees reach 12 to 25 meters in height, with a broadly conical crown, smooth pale-grey bark fissuring into longitudinal plates with age, and spreading horizontal branches. The leaves are linear, stiff, sharply pointed, 1.1 to 2.5 cm long, arranged in two flat ranks along the shoots, dark glossy green above with two narrow whitish stomatal bands beneath. The species is dioecious; male cones are small and pale yellow, while female cones consist of a single ovule that develops over about eighteen months into a large, drupe-like seed enclosed in a fleshy, greenish-purple aril 2 to 4.5 cm long. The hard inner seed is oily and edible after roasting and constitutes the medicinal Fei Zi, used in traditional Chinese medicine to expel intestinal parasites and moisten the bowels.