Cephalotaxus oliveri

Mast. 1898

Common names

篦子三尖杉 bi zi san jian shan [Chinese] (Fu et al. 1999). Vietnamese: Phi luoc bí (FIPI 1996).

Taxonomic notes

Type: China, Hubei, Changyang T.Z., A. Henry 7479. No synonyms. Due to its distinctive morphology, the taxonomic controversies around Cephalotaxus have not affected this species; all authorities have found it distinctive, and molecular phylogeny shows it to be sister to a clade containing all other taxa in Cephalotaxus (Wang et al. 2022).

Description

Shrubs or small trees to 4 m tall with a bushy crown of spreading branches. Bark becoming scaly with thin flakes, yellow weathering to gray-brown. Twigs oblong-elliptic in outline, grooved between decurrent leaf bases, yellow-green turning light brown, usually <10 cm long, slender, with subopposite lateral shoots often forming planar foliar units. Leaves in two opposite, distichous ranks, emerging at 55-70° to twig axis, mostly of equal length and touching each other from base to apex, 1.6-3 cm × 2.3-3.5 mm, straight or slightly falcate, nearly sessile, coriaceous, stiff, dull green above, pale green below with a midvein ca. 0.8-1 mm wide and paired stomatal bands 0.8-1 mm wide with 13-17 rows of stomata, marginal bands ca. 0.8 mm wide, margin flat, apex minutely cuspidate or mucronate. Pollen cones axillary, buds developing before the subtending leaves expand, in rows of capitula on the underside of lateral foliage twigs, each capitulum on a 1-3 mm long scaly peduncle subtended by ovate, incurved bracts with more or less hyaline margins, bearing 3-6 small, globose, sessile, pink or light brown cones up to 2 mm diameter. Microsporophylls 4-10 per cone, each with 3-4 globose, pink pollen sacs. Seeds cones solitary or in groups at base of lateral foliage twigs; peduncle ca. 6 mm; fertilized ovules surrounded by an obovoid, green or grayish aril enclosing the seed; at maturity 22-27 × 14-18 mm, soft, orange-red with longitudinal striations. Seed (ob)ovoid, 18-23 × 10-15 mm, apex with small mucro. Pollination March-April, seed maturity August-October. 2n = 24 (Fu et al. 1999, Farjon 2010). See García Esteban et al. (2004) for a detailed characterization of the wood anatomy.

Distribution and Ecology

China: Chongqing, N Guangdong, Guizhou, W Hubei, Hunan, E Jiangxi, S and W Sichuan (especially Emei Shan), E Yunnan. There are also two recorded collections from extreme N Guangxi and one from Zhejiang; I suspect the latter is a cultivated plant. Habitat occurs at elevations of 300-1800 m in evergreen and deciduous broadleaf forest, conifer forest, and mixed forest, growing as an evergreen shrub with angiosperm genera such as Rhododendron, Cotoneaster, Camellia, Deutzia, Lonicera, Berberis, Buddleia, Euonymus, Hydrangea, Prunus, and many other species (Farjon 2010).

Distribution data (C. oliveri shown in purple), based on GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.bz6u39 (2024.08.24). Open left pane for legend; click on any icon for a link to source information. See map notes (left pane) for details on map preparation.

Hardy to Zone 8 (cold hardiness limit between -12.1°C and -6.7°C) (Bannister and Neuner 2001).

In 2010 this species was assessed as "Vulnerable" because, although it has a broad distribution and a very large population, it has experienced recent population reductions due to direct exploitation of the plant for medicinal purposes and the loss of habitat due to deforestation by logging and agricultural expansion. The reduction is likely to continue. Although the species does occur in some protected areas, it is not protected in its own right and there are no conservation programs in place for it (Liao and Yang 2013).

Remarkable Specimens

No data as of 2023.02.23.

Ethnobotany

Plants are harvested for their bark, which contains anti-carcinogenic alkaloids. It is also cultivated as an ornamental shrub, but is tender and intolerant of frost (Farjon 2010).

Observations

It could probably be found on Emei Shan in Sichuan (Dallimore et al. 1967). The Emei Shan area is world-famous as a site of botanical interest and is a popular destination for foreign travelers. It is not recorded as being grown in the U.S. or U.K. (Tripp 1995).

Remarks

The epithet honors Francis Wall Oliver (1864-1951), the British botanist who received Augustine Henry's vast Chinese specimen collections at Kew.

Citations

Liao, W. and Y. Yang. 2013. Cephalotaxus oliveri. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T32331A2815247. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T32331A2815247.en, accessed 2024.08.24.

Masters, Maxwell T. 1898. De Coniferis. Bulletin de l'Herbier Boissier 6:270. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2024.08.24.

Wang, Jie, Chao-Nan Fu, Zhi-Qiong Mo, Michael Möller, Jun-Bo Yang, Zhi-Rong Zhang, De-Zhu Li, and Lian-Ming Gao. 2022. Testing the Complete Plastome for Species Discrimination, Cryptic Species Discovery and Phylogenetic Resolution in Cephalotaxus (Cephalotaxaceae). Frontiers in Plant Science 13: 768810. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.768810, accessed 2024.08.26.

See also

The species account at Threatened Conifers of the World.