Parrotia

''Parrotia persica'', the Persian ironwood, is a deciduous tree in the family Hamamelidaceae, closely related to the witch-hazel genus ''Hamamelis''. It is native to Iran's Caspian region (where it is called ) and Iranian Azerbaijan (where it is called '). It is endemic in the Alborz mountains, where it is found mainly in Golestan National Park.

The species was named by Carl Anton von Meyer to honor his predecessor at the University of Dorpat, German naturalist Georg Friedrich Parrot., who botanized in the Alborz on a mountaineering expedition in the 1830s.

Another species ''Parrotia subaequalis'' (commonly called Chinese ironwood) originates from eastern China. There are five disjunct populations of ''P. subaequalis'' in eastern China: two each in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces (Huang et al. 2005) and one in Anhui (Shao and Fang 2004). A full account of this sibling species can be found in an article "The Chinese Parrotia: A Sibling Species of the Persian Parrotia" by Jianhua Li and Peter Del Tredici.

This species is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN (under its former name of ''Shaniodendron subaequale'', which is no longer an accepted name for the species). ''P. subaequalis'' is also considered critically endangered (Grade I Key protected Wild Plant) in the China Red Data Book, with a very narrow distribution range. The five known relict populations of P. subaequalis comprise no more than 100 reproductive individuals. Therefore, this species has high conservation priority.

Description

''Parrotia persica'' grows swiftly when young, maturing in gardens to tall and broad, multi-stemmed and naturally somewhat congested but prunable to a single trunk up to in diameter. The bark is smooth, pinkish-brown flaking/peeling to leave a mosaic of cinnamon, pink, green, and pale yellow patches in a similar manner to plane trees. The leaves are alternate, ovoid, often slightly lop-sided, long and across, with wavy margins; they are glossy green, turning in autumn to a rich purple to orange and brilliant red, often on the same tree.

The flowers are somewhat similar to witch-hazel flowers but dark red; they are likewise produced in late winter on bare stems, but differ in having only four rounded sepals with no petals; the stamens are however fairly conspicuous, forming a dense red cluster across. The fruit is a two-parted capsule containing two seeds, one in each half.

The richness of Iran's flora and the variety of its vegetation results from the variety and richness of its physical-geographic and natural-historic conditions and from its compound history influenced by the remote florist regions.

Relict genera of the tertiary period can be frequently found in all the zones of North of Iran especially in Talysh. They are the Persian iron tree (''Parrotia persica''), the Lenkoran acacia (''Albizia julibrissin''), the basket oak (''Quercus castaneifolia''), the Caucasian persimmon (''Diospyros lotus''), the evergreen shrub ''Ruscus hyrcana'', the box tree ('' Buxus hyrcana''), etc. There are 240 endemic species of plants in North and North West Iran and also south-east Azerbaijan.

Fossil record

Among the middle Miocene Sarmatian palynoflora from the Lavanttal Basin, Austria, researchers have recognized ''Parrotia'' fossil pollen. The sediment containing it had accumulated in a lowland wetland environment with various vegetation units of mixed evergreen/deciduous broadleaved/conifer forests surrounding the wetland basin. Key relatives of the fossil taxa found with ''Parrotia'' are presently confined to humid warm temperate environments, suggesting a subtropical climate during the middle Miocene in Austria.

Cultivation

''Parrotia persica'' is cultivated as an ornamental tree for its brilliant autumn colour and the smooth, patterned bark. As an uncommon, drought-tolerant garden tree of moderate size, it is prized for its striking autumn colour and the exfoliating bark that develops on mature specimens.

Several cultivars have been selected for garden planting:
* 'Horizontalis': semi-weeping, wide-spreading horizontal branching pattern.
* 'Pendula' (Kew Form): Compact, weeping, quite graceful
* 'Select': Young leaves have purple margins, otherwise same as species
* 'Vanessa': Upright, columnar habit

'Vanessa' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.

Gallery

File:Dès février la floraison de l'arbre de fer au Muséum de Toulouse.jpg, February Flowers
File:Parrotia persica leave red.jpg, September leaves
Parrotia persica (30).JPG, Bark of a specimen in Botanical Garden Jevremovac
File:درخت انجیلی.jpg, Persian ironwood in April

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1138533

Hamamelidaceae
Trees of Western Asia
Trees of Azerbaijan
Endemic flora of Iran
Endemic flora of Azerbaijan
Ornamental trees