''Chamaecyparis taiwanensis'' (Taiwan cypress; ) is a species of
cypress, native to the mountains of
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
, where it grows at altitudes of 1300–2800 m.
[Rushforth, K. (1987). ''Conifers''. Helm .]
Description
It is a slow-growing
coniferous 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 ...
growing to 40 m tall with a trunk up to 2 m in diameter. The
bark is red-brown, vertically fissured and with a stringy texture. The foliage is arranged in flat sprays; adult
leaves are scale-like, 0.8–1.5 mm long, with acute tips (unlike the blunt tips of the leaves of the closely related
Japanese ''
Chamaecyparis obtusa'' (Hinoki Cypress), green above, green below with a white
stomatal band at the base of each scale-leaf; they are arranged in opposite
decussate pairs on the shoots. The
juvenile leaves, found on young seedlings, are needle-like, 4–8 mm long. 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 globose, smaller than those of ''C. obtusa'', 7–9 mm diameter, with 6–10 scales arranged in opposite pairs, maturing in autumn about 7–8 months after pollination.
[
]
Taxonomy
It is most commonly treated as a variety
Variety may refer to:
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* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
of ''Chamaecyparis obtusa'' in European and American texts,[ but more often accepted as a distinct species by Taiwanese botanists.][Hwang, L.-H., Hwang, S.-Y., & Lin, T.-P. (2000). Low Chloroplast DNA Variation and Population Differentiation of ''Chamaecyparis formosensis'' and ''Chamaecyparis taiwanensis''. ''Taiwan J. Forest Sci.'' Availabl]
online
/ref> The two taxa differ in ecological requirements, with ''C. obtusa'' growing primarily on drier ridgetop sites, while ''C. taiwanensis'' occurs on moist soils and with higher rainfall and air humidity.[
]
Related species
A related cypress also found on Taiwan, ''Chamaecyparis formosensis
''Chamaecyparis formosensis'' (Formosan cypress, Taiwan cypress, Taiwan red cypress; Chinese: 紅檜/红桧 ''hóngguì, Taiwan pron. hóngkuài'') is a species of ''Chamaecyparis'', endemic to Taiwan, where it grows in the central mountains at ...
'' (Formosan Cypress), differs in leaves which are green below as well as above without a conspicuous white stomatal band, and longer, slenderer ovoid cone
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 con ...
s 6–10 mm long with 10–16 scales.[
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5069350
taiwanensis
Trees of Taiwan
Endemic flora of Taiwan