Cathaya

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Cathaya is a genus in the pine family, Pinaceae, with one known living species, Cathaya argyrophylla.[1] In foliage and cone morphology, Cathaya has been considered a member of the subfamily Laricoideae, closely related to Pseudotsuga and Larix,[2][3] but more recent genetic studies have suggested a closer relationship to Pinus and Picea in the subfamily Pinoideae.[4][5] A second species, C. nanchuanensis, is now treated as a synonym,[6] as it does not differ from C. argyrophylla in any characters.

Description

Cathaya is confined to a limited area in southern China, in the provinces of Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan and southeast Sichuan. It is an evergreen tree growing to Template:Cvt tall and a trunk up to Template:Cvt diameter, found on steep, narrow mountain slopes at Template:Cvt altitude on limestone soils.[3] A larger population has been reduced by over-cutting before its scientific discovery and protection in 1950.

The leaves are needle-like, Template:Cvt long, have ciliate (hairy) margins when young, and grow around the stems in a spiral pattern. The cones are Template:Cvt long, with about 15–20 scales, each scale bearing two winged seeds.[3]

One or two botanists, unhappy with the idea of a new genus in such a familiar family, tried to shoehorn it into other existing genera, as Pseudotsuga argyrophylla and Tsuga argyrophylla.[7] It is however very distinct from both of these genera, and these combinations are not now used.

The species was introduced into Europe and North America in the 1990s.[8]

Fossil record

The extinct fossil species Cathaya loehri (Engelhardt & Kinkelin) Chun & Kuang is described from the Miocene and Pliocene of Germany and France;[3] other Cathaya fossils are known from the Miocene and Pliocene of eastern Siberia,[3] and from the early Pleistocene of southern Portugal.[9] They are abundant in European brown coal deposits dating from between 10 and 30 million years ago.[3]

References

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  9. Forest Context and Policies in Portugal: Present and Future Challenges by Fernando Reboredo – Springer, 28. aug. 2014 – Template:ISBN

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External links

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