Keteleeria davidiana var. formosana

Hayata 1908

Common names

台湾油杉 tai wan you shan (Wu and Raven 1999).

Taxonomic notes

Syn: K. formosana Hayata 1908 (Cheng and Fu 1978), K. davidiana sensu Matsuma et Hayata 1906 (Li 1975).

Description

Trees to 35 m tall and 250 cm dbh. Bark dark gray, irregularly furrowed. Twigs short-pilose or glabrous. Leaves flat, linear, 2-4 cm long 3-4 mm broad, keeled on both surfaces, the apex acute to obtuse or emarginate, the margins more or less revolute. Seed cones solitary, erect, cylindric-oblong, 5-15 cm long, 4-4.5 cm in diameter, first green, maturing pale brown. Seeds about 1 cm long, the wing as long as or longer than the seed" (Li 1975). 2n=24 (Kuo et al. 1972, cited in Huang 1994).

Distribution and Ecology

Taiwan: 300-600 m in the extreme north, 500-900 m in the south, usually in association with broad-leaved trees in open settings (Li 1975).

Remarkable Specimens

Some trees are said to achieve 250 cm dbh and 35 m height (Li 1975).

Ethnobotany

Observations

Described collection locales (HAST 1999) include:

• Taroko National Park, en route from Hsinpiyang to Pilu, 1500-2050 m.
• Keteleeria davidiana var. formosana protected area, 200-380 m.
• Taipei Xian: Pinglin Xiang: Taiyuku, en route from Chinkualiaohsi (stream)
  to Keteleeria davidiana Preserve, 210-350 m.

Taroko National Park looks like an interesting place to see it.

Remarks

Citations

Herbarium of the Research Center For Biodiversity, Academia Sinica, Taipei [HAST]. 1999. Database output at http://www2.sinica.edu.tw:8080/hast/eindex.html, accessed 1999.03.15, now defunct.

Hayata, B. 1908. New Conifers from Formosa. Gardeners' Chronicle ser. 3, 43:194. Available: Google Books, accessed 2012.10.29. Described as K. formosana.

Hayata, B. 1908. Flora Montana Formosae - Gymnospermae. J. Coll. Sci. Imp. Univ. Tokyo 25, Art. 19:207-224, figs. (p. 217). Published later the same year as K. davidiana var. formosana.

See also

The species account at Threatened Conifers of the World.