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''Taiwania'', with the single living species ''Taiwania cryptomerioides'', is a large
coniferous Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All extan ...
tree in the cypress family
Cupressaceae Cupressaceae is a conifer family, the cypress family, with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27–30 genera (17 monotypic), which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130–140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdioeci ...
.


Etymology

''Taiwania'' means 'from Taiwan', while ''Cryptomerioides'' means 'resembling ''
Cryptomeria ''Cryptomeria'' (literally "hidden parts") is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae, formerly belonging to the family Taxodiaceae. It includes only one species, ''Cryptomeria japonica'' ( syn. ''Cupressus japonica'' L ...
''.Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. (hardback), (paperback). pp 127, 370


Taxonomy

The genus was formerly placed in the segregate family Taxodiaceae, it is now included in the monotypic subfamily Taiwanioideae of the family Cupressaceae. It is the second most basal member of the Cupressaceae, with only ''
Cunninghamia ''Cunninghamia'' is a genus of one or two living species of evergreen coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae. They are native to China, northern Vietnam and Laos, and perhaps also Cambodia. They may reach in height. In vernacular u ...
'' being more basal. Its lineage is thought to have diverged from the rest of Cupressaceae during the middle Jurassic.


Range

It is native to eastern
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
, growing in the mountains of central Taiwan, and locally in southwest China (Guizhou, Hubei, Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet) and adjoining Myanmar, and northern Vietnam. It is endangered by illegal logging for its valuable wood in many areas. It is very likely that the range was more extensive in the past before extensive felling for the wood. The populations in mainland Asia were treated as a distinct species ''Taiwania flousiana'' by some botanists, but the cited differences between these and the Taiwanese population are not consistent when a number of specimens from each area are compared.


Morphology

It is one of the largest tree species in Asia, reported to heights of up to tall and with a trunk up to diameter above buttressed base.Farjon, A. (2005). ''Monograph of Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys''. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The
leaves A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...
are needle-like or awl-like and long on young trees up to about 100 years old, then gradually becoming more scale-like, long, on mature trees. 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 con ...
are small, long, with about 15–30 thin, fragile scales, each scale with two seeds.


History

The genus is named after the island of Taiwan, from where it first became known to the botanical community in 1910. The wood is soft, but durable and attractively spicy scented, and was in very high demand in the past, particularly for temple building and
coffin A coffin is a funerary box used for viewing or keeping a corpse, either for burial or cremation. Sometimes referred to as a casket, any box in which the dead are buried is a coffin, and while a casket was originally regarded as a box for jewe ...
s. The rarity of the tree and its slow growth in plantations means legal supplies are now very scarce; the species has legal protection in China and Taiwan. '' Taiwania'' is also a journal that is published by National Taiwan University.


Extraordinary specimens

In 2022 a team of researchers measured a 79.1 meters (259.5 feet) Taiwania specimen in
Shei-pa National Park Shei-Pa National Park () is a national park located in the central part of Taiwan around the peaks of Hsuehshan and Dabajian Mountain, with an area of , covering the area of Hsinchu County, Miaoli County and Taichung City. High mountain ecology ...
. The tree was growing at an elevation of 2,000m.


References


External links


Conifers Around the World Special Report - ''"Taiwania Day" in Kyoto Prefectural Botanical Garden''
. {{Taxonbar, from=Q390313 Cupressaceae Monotypic conifer genera Trees of Myanmar Trees of China Trees of Taiwan Trees of Vietnam Vulnerable plants