''Carya poilanei'' is a very large species of

hickory Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes around 18 species. Five or six species are native to China, Indochina, and India (Assam), as many as twelve are native to the United States, four are found in Mexi ...

native to northern

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

, northern

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

, and southern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. It was first described by

Auguste Jean Baptiste Chevalier Auguste may refer to: People Surname * Arsène Auguste (born 1951), Haitian footballer * Donna Auguste (born 1958), African-American businesswoman * Georges Auguste (born 1933), Haitian painter * Henri Auguste (1759–1816), Parisian gold and ...

, and given its current name by

André Leroy André Leroy (born 30 August 1801 in Angers; died 23 July 1875) was a French botanist and nurseryman. Biography He was born into a large family of gardeners. He took over the management of the family farm, founded in 1780, in 1822.. When he died, ...

. ''Carya poilanei'' is part of the genus ''

Carya Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes around 18 species. Five or six species are native to China, Indochina, and India (Assam), as many as twelve are native to the United States, four are found in Mexi ...

'', and the family

Juglandaceae The Juglandaceae are a plant family known as the walnut family. They are trees, or sometimes shrubs, in the order Fagales. Members of this family are native to the Americas, Eurasia, and Southeast Asia. The nine or ten genera in the family have ...

Description

The species grows up to 15 to 40 meters tall. It is deciduous and monoecious.

Habitat

The species grows on southeastern and southern slopes of limestone or calcareous mountains at elevations of 1000 to 2050 meters.

Range

Prior to 2021, it was only known from Laos and Vietnam (and a previously undocumented specimen collected in Thailand). Its original localities had been affected by repeated deforestation events, and it was thus not observed in these sites for over 63 years, raising fears that it had been driven to extinction. However, in 2021, three fragmented subpopulations of this species were discovered on the eastern edge of the

Ailao Mountains The Ailao Mountains (; Hani: ''Hhaqlol haolgaoq'') are located in Yunnan, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 b ...

Yunnan Province Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...

, China. The populations contained about 50 total adult trees, some gigantic in size, as well as some seedlings and saplings. These populations are located relatively close to villages, but the trees are considered sacred by villagers due to their large size and are thus not at risk of being cut down. Due to its very low population and fragmented distribution, it has been recommended that this species be classified as Critically Endangered on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

References

World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World
/ref> {{Taxonbar, from=Q15376360 poilanei Flora of Laos Flora of Vietnam Flora of Thailand Flora of Yunnan Taxa named by Auguste Chevalier