''Keteleeria fortunei'' ( zh: 油杉, ''you shan'') is a

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

ous

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

. Originated in China, ''K. fortunei'' is an ancient

relict A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon. Biology A relict (or relic) is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas. Geology and geomorphology In geology, a r ...

species and a second-class national key protected plant, "mainly distributed in south subtropical to the middle subtropical edge". It is found in the provinces of

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

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 Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, 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 ...

, and

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

. The tree grows in hills, mountains, and broadleaf forests at elevations of 200–1400 m. The lifespan of ''K. fortunei'' can reach more than a thousand years, and the height of a thousand-year-old tree can reach more than 40 meters. "Economically, ''K. fortunei'' is a treasure, and its comprehensive development and uses has broad prospects". The species is named after Scottish botanist

Robert Fortune Robert Fortune (16 September 1812 – 13 April 1880) was a Scottish botanist, plant hunter and traveller, best known for introducing around 250 new ornamental plants, mainly from China, but also Japan, into the gardens of Britain, Australia, a ...

, who discovered the tree in 1844. ''K. fortunei'' has also been reported from Vietnam but this is attributed to misidentification of immature specimens of ''

Pseudotsuga sinensis ''Pseudotsuga sinensis'' (Chinese Douglas-fir; in Chinese 黃杉, pinyin romanization: huáng shān) is a species of conifer in the family Pinaceae. It is a tree up to 50 metres tall. It is found in China (in Anhui, Fujian, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hu ...

''.

Description

It grows 25–30 m tall and 1 m in trunk diameter at breast height, forming a pyramidal crown with spreading, horizontal branches. The

bark Bark may refer to: * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Places * Bark, Germany * Bark, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland Arts, ...

is dark gray, rough, and furrowed in a vertical pattern. Branchlets are orange-red and pubescent when young, turning yellow-gray or yellow-brown in their second or third year. 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 1.2–3 cm long by 2–4 mm broad, stiff, sharply pointed on young trees and rounded or rarely slightly notched on mature trees. They are shiny dark green above and pale green on the underside with 12-17

stoma In botany, a stoma (from Greek ''στόμα'', "mouth", plural "stomata"), also called a stomate (plural "stomates"), is a pore found in the epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that controls the rate of gas exchange. The pore is bor ...

tal lines on each side of the midrib. The

cones A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines conn ...

are cylindrical, 6–18 cm long, 3–5 cm wide before opening and up to 7.5 cm wide after opening. They stand erect on short pubescent stalks and mature in October to a purple-brown color. The cones open upon maturity to release the seeds, which are large and oblong, 1-1.3 cm long with a yellow-brown wedge-shaped wing 3 cm long.

Uses

The tree is grown as an ornamental in warm climates, and the

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...

is used in construction and furniture, although the species is protected under Chinese forestry regulations. "The ancients regarded ''K. fortunei'' as a

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

, and it was often placed around religious and sacrificial places such as

Miao shrine ''Miao (廟)'' are buildings in traditional East Asian religions enshrining gods, myths or legends, sages of past dynasties, and famous historical figures. They are a kind of Chinese temple architecture and contrast with Ci Shrines which ens ...

and

Ancestral shrine An ancestral shrine, hall or temple ( or , vi, Nhà thờ họ; Chữ Hán: 家祠户), also called lineage temple, is a temple dedicated to deified ancestors and progenitors of surname lineages or families in the Chinese tradition. Ancestra ...

, which is why it suffered less man-made damage". Although the ancient forests of ''K. fortunei'' are not easy to see, there are still "古樹王/King of Ancient Trees" in many places, for example, in 2018, a 1,500-year-old tree located in

Yongtai County Yongtai County (; Foochow Romanized: Īng-tái) is a county of Fujian Province, China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Fuzhou, the provincial capital. Transportation * Yongtai Station on the Xiangtang–Putian Rail ...

was selected "China's Most Beautiful Ancient Tree" (In 2018, a total of 85 trees won this honor).

Protection

In Hong Kong, this species is under protection based on

Forestry Regulations Cap. 96A The Forests and Countryside Ordinance is a Hong Kong ordinance "to consolidate and amend the law relating to forests and plants, and to provide for the protection of the countryside".

. In 1986, several researchers discovered some ancient ''K. fortunei'' stumps in good condition with an area of more than 30 km² in

Shenhu Shenhu () is a town on the southern coast of Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It is under the administration of Jinjiang City, the centre of which is away. It sits on a peninsula, facing the Taiwan Strait to the east and the town of ...

Bay, Jinjiang,

. "The maximum diameter of the stump is 100 cm, the minimum is 27 cm, and the depth of the buried part below the water surface can reach 20-25 meters".After identification, these stumps are more than 7,000 years old. In 1992, this rare natural relict in the world was officially designated by the

State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative auth ...

of China as "福建深沪湾海底古森林遗迹国家级自然保护区/National Nature Reserve of the Ancient Submarine Forest in Shenhu Bay, Fujian", which also protects a paleo oyster reef relict with a history of 9,000-25,000 years next to this ancient submarine forest.This nature reserve is of great value for the study of

paleogeography Palaeogeography (or paleogeography) is the study of historical geography, generally physical landscapes. Palaeogeography can also include the study of human or cultural environments. When the focus is specifically on landforms, the term pale ...

, paleoplants,

paleoclimatology Paleoclimatology (British spelling, palaeoclimatology) is the study of climates for which direct measurements were not taken. As instrumental records only span a tiny part of Earth's history, the reconstruction of ancient climate is important to ...

, etc. in the sea area near Shenhu Bay. In addition to the remains of the Ancient Submarine Forest in Shenhu Bay, the relics of ''K. fortunei'' have also been excavated in other places, such as a fossil about 70 million years ago unearthed near

Xinyang Xinyang (; postal: Sinyang) is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Henan province, People's Republic of China, the southernmost administrative division in the province. Its total population was 6,234,401 according to the 2020 census. As of t ...

and 罗山/Luoshan in

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

, a wooden slip of the

Zhou Dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by th ...

unearthed in 沙市/Shashi,

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

, and a 9,300-year-old wooden stem unearthed in

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei, Hubei Province in the China, People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the List of cities in China ...

References

External links

Gymnosperm Database
{{Taxonbar, from=Q311957 Pinaceae Flora of Hong Kong Trees of China Near threatened plants