Torreya fargesii

Franch. 1899

Common names

巴山榧树 ba shan fei shu [Chinese]; Farges' nutmeg tree.

Taxonomic notes

Two varieties, Torreya fargesii Franch. var. fargesii (syn: T. grandis Fortune var. fargesii (Franch.) Silba), and T. fargesii Franch. var. yunnanensis (W.C. Cheng & L.K. Fu) N. Kang (syn.: T. yunnanensis W.C. Cheng & L.K. Fu; T. grandis Fortune var. yunnanensis (W.C. Cheng & L.K. Fu) Silba).

As noted in the Torreya description, neither morphological nor molecular analyses performed to date have provided a clear picture of infraspecific relationships in Torreya. I here follow the systematics of Farjon (2010) as a recent and reasonable source, but there is really no objective basis at this time to assert whether the taxa that have been described as T. grandis, T. fargesii, and T. yunnanensis warrant distinction at species, subspecies, or varietal rank, although there does seem to be general agreement that they are all good taxa.

Description

Dioecious evergreen shrubs or trees up to 10 m tall and 100 cm dbh, with a broad crown of spreading, ascending branches. Bark with irregular longitudinal fissures, sometimes flaky, light brown weathering dark gray. Twigs slender with opposite branching in a horizontal plane at 40-60° angles, but sometimes more than 2 laterals from a node; round, grooved along leaf bases, green in first year, then yellowish brown. Very small buds at ends of twigs; bud scales at terminal node of previous year larger, broad-triangular, keeled, deciduous. Leaves in a horizontal plane, diverging at a 55-90° angle from the twig, linear, 12-35 × 2-4.5 mm with a short twisted petiole, abruptly widening at the base, coriaceous, lustrous green on upper surface, lower surface with a stomatal band on either side of an indistinct midrib, margins flat or very slightly revolute; apex cuspidate; stomatal bands 0.3-0.5 mm wide, very pale brown, the stomata randomly distributed. Pollen cones axillary, solitary, in short rows on underside of lateral twigs, 5-6 × 4.5-5 mm, pale yellow at maturity. Seeds borne in axillary structures, paired, sessile, with rounded, keeled bract scales subtending the aril; the ripe aril fleshy, smooth, pale green, often with a whitish bloom, variably ovoid, 15-25 mm diameter, mucronate at apex (Farjon 2010).

On lower side of the leaves, the midrib of T. fargesii is narrower than the margins, while in T. grandis the midrib and margins are of about equal width; this also means T. fargesii has slightly wider stomatal bands. Var. fargesii has smaller leaves than var. yunnanensis: 12-25 × 2-3.5 mm vs. 20-40 × 3-4.5 mm; the varieties also have a disjunct distribution (Farjon 2010).

Distribution and Ecology

China: S Anhui, W Hubei, NW Hunan, Jiangxi, S Shaanxi, and Sichuan (var. fargesii), and NW Yunnan (var. yunnanensis). Found at elevations of 1000 to 3400 m in conifer, mixed, or broadleaf forest, usually as an understory shrub or small tree (Farjon 2010).

Although the IUCN lists the species overall as "vulnerable", both varieties are listed as "endangered." The type variety is so listed due to rapid range reduction; it was formerly an important timber tree, but now only small trees can be found, and those are in relatively inaccessible areas (Hilton-Taylor et al. 2013, accessed 2022.12.17). Var. yunnanensis is "endangered" because it has an extent of occurrence of only 3,580 km² and an area of occupancy of 384 km², and is known from only about ten locations. Also, the wood is highly sought after, so there is likely a continuing decline in the population (Yang and Luscombe 2013, accessed 2022.12.17).

Hardy to Zone 7 (cold hardiness limit between -17.7°C and -12.2°C) (Bannister and Neuner 2001).

Remarkable Specimens

No data as of 2023.02.23.

Ethnobotany

Torreya fargesii formerly yielded a fine, decay-resistant wood highly prized in home, bridge, and furniture construction. It also produces an edible seed, similar to T. grandis (q.v.). However, harvest for these uses has caused such a precipitous decline in the species that it now has little practical use. It is also rarely seen as an ornamental, largely restricted to the most comprehensive botanical gardens.

Observations

Remarks

The epithet honors French botanist Père Paul Guillaume Farges (1844–1912), who collected the type specimen.

Citations

Franchet, A. 1899. Plantarum sinensium ecloge tertia. Journal de Botanique 13(8):264. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2022.12.17.

See also

Tao K., Gao L., Li J., Chen S., Su Y., and Wang T. 2016. The complete chloroplast genome of Torreya fargesii (Taxaceae). Mitochondrial DNA A DNA Mapp Seq Anal. 27(5):3512-3. doi: 10.3109/19401736.2015.1074195.

Zhou, X., Yu, Y., Zhou, S., and He, X. 2012. Geographic distribution and potential distribution of Torreya fargesii. Scientia Silvae Sinicae 48(2):1-8.

Zhou, X., Zhang, W., He, X., Zhou, S., Yu, Y., and Wang, J. 2012. Resources and conservation of Torreya fargesii. Journal of Northeast Forestry University 40(2):42-46.

The species account at Threatened Conifers of the World.