I was able to get a hold of some seeds from a plant growing outside for many years here in Utah, if you would believe that. Since the tree is mature and producing, I was able to eat some of the nuts as well as gather plenty to plant. The seeds kind of taste like macadamia nuts, but there are only slight similarities. They are much softer in texture than most nuts.. almost waxy. The unripe nuts are quite bitter, and the shell is very tough and leathery, not crispy or brittle. A normal nutcracker doesn't seem to do well to open them but mostly only mangles the seed. I think they have more of a sunflower seed texture than nut texture, but they are sweetish and definitely palatable in general. As for eating flowers, not really my cuppa, and the leaves tend to be too veiny and leathery to really make any kind of palatable salad or to eat plain. I would imagine that the new growth may be more palatable, but I can't bring myself to mar such a unique specimen to try it.
Since it is the only plant of its kind anywhere in the vicinity (and probably the only one in the northern Utah) it seems to be a. self fertile, and b. quite prolific (most years). We are a solid USDA Zone 5 where it is growing and it seems to be pest and problem free. It is tending toward being more of a small multi-trunk tree, though my seed grown specimens are very slender and vertical so far (1 year old) and I plan on keeping them trained in a standard. Since the tree is way smaller than most nut trees, even with many fruit covering the plant, the yield will be fairly small in comparison to, say a walnut or pecan, so planting multiple may be the way to go for more nuts.
If you are interested in more research on these trees, there is quite a lot of info written in Chinese on these plants. The current use for them being explored in China seems to be Biodiesel and there are some really cool photos of double flowers and different colors, but the plants are not being grown for ornamental or food usage from what I have been able to find. Most of the info is either scientific papers or industrial energy web pages.
Sorry for the long post but hopefully it is helpful to someone =)
