''Keteleeria'' is a genus of three species of
coniferous
Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All extant ...
trees in the family
Pinaceae first described as a genus in 1866.
The genus name ''Keteleeria'' honours J.B. Keteleer (1813–1903), a
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
nurseryman. The group is related to the genera ''
Nothotsuga'' and ''
Pseudolarix''. It is distinguished from ''Nothotsuga'' by the much larger
cones, and from ''Pseudolarix'' by the
evergreen 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 ...
and the cones not disintegrating readily at maturity. All three genera share the unusual feature of male cones produced in
umbels of several together from a single bud, and also in their ability, very rare in the Pinaceae, of being able to
coppice.
The genus is found 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 ...
(from
Shaanxi south to
Guangdong and
Yunnan),
Hainan,
Taiwan, northern
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
, and
Vietnam.
[Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]
/ref>
They are evergreen trees reaching tall. The leaves are flat, needle-like, long and broad. The cones are erect, long, and mature in about 6–8 months after pollination; cone size and scale shape is very variable within all three species.
The variability of the cones has led in the past to the description of several additional species (up to 16 'species' have been named), but most authorities now only accept three species. Flora of China, however, recognized five.
The World Checklist maintained by Kew Botanical Garden accepts the following:[
]
Species
;formerly included[
moved to '' Abies''
*''Keteleeria fabri = Abies fabri'' — Sichuan
]
Fossil record
Fossil pollen
Paleobotany, which is also spelled as palaeobotany, is the branch of botany dealing with the recovery and identification of plant remains from geological contexts, and their use for the biological reconstruction of past environments (paleogeogr ...
of ''Keteleeria caucasica'' have been recovered from strata
In geology and related fields, a stratum ( : strata) is a layer of rock or sediment characterized by certain lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by visible surfaces known as ei ...
of the Late Miocene
The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million ye ...
in Georgia in the Caucasus region. ''Keteleeria'' sp. fossils are also known from the early Pleistocene of southern Portugal.[Fernando Reboredo, ''Forest Context and Policies in Portugal: Present and Future Challenges'', Springer, 28 August 2014 - ]
References
External links
Arboretum de Villardebelle - photos of cones
{{Taxonbar, from=Q132109
Pinaceae
Conifer genera
Taxa named by Élie-Abel Carrière