''Cathaya'' is a genus in the pine family, Pinaceae, with one known living species, ''Cathaya argyrophylla''. ''Cathaya'' is a member of the subfamily Laricoideae, most closely related to ''

Pseudotsuga ''Pseudotsuga'' is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae (subfamily Laricoideae). Common names for species in the genus include Douglas fir, Douglas-fir, Douglas tree, Oregon pine and Bigcone spruce. '' Pseudotsuga menz ...

'' and ''

Larix Larches are deciduous conifers in the genus ''Larix'', of the family Pinaceae (subfamily Laricoideae). Growing from tall, they are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the north and high on mountains furth ...

''. A second species, ''C. nanchuanensis'', is now treated as a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

, as it does not differ from ''C. argyrophylla'' in any characters. ''Cathaya'' is confined to a limited area in 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 ...

, in the provinces of

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...

, Guizhou, Hunan and southeast Sichuan. It is found on steep, narrow mountain slopes at 950–1800 m altitude, on limestone soils. A larger population has been reduced by over-cutting before its scientific discovery and protection in 1950. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are needle-like, 2.5–5 cm long, have ciliate (hairy) margins when young, and grow around the stems in a spiral pattern. The cones are 3–5 cm long, with about 15–20 scales, each scale bearing two winged seeds. One or two botanists, unhappy with the idea of a new genus in such a familiar family, tried to shoehorn it into other existing genera, as ''Pseudotsuga argyrophylla'' and '' Tsuga argyrophylla''. It is however very distinct from both of these genera, and these combinations are not now used. The Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia had a small living specimen. The tree died in 2017. Whistling Gardens in Wilsonville, Ontario has a young specimen in its plant collection. Hoyt Arboretum in Portland, Oregon has a specimen in its collection. Hoyt’s tree is propagated from a tree that was probably imported illegally back in the 1990s.

Fossil record

''Cathaya'' sp.

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...

are described from the early Pleistocene of southern Portugal.Forest Context and Policies in Portugal: Present and Future Challenges by Fernando Reboredo – Springer, 28. aug. 2014 – They are abundant in European brown coal deposits dating from between 10 and 30 million years ago.

References

External links

Gymnosperm Database: ''Cathaya argyrophylla''Conifers Around the World: ''Cathaya argyrophylla''
{{Authority control Laricoideae Endemic flora of China Trees of China Flora of Guangxi Flora of Guizhou Flora of Hunan Flora of Sichuan Extant Rupelian first appearances Monotypic conifer genera Vulnerable flora of Asia Rupelian genus first appearances