''Keteleeria evelyniana'' (Evelyn keteleeria, , Vietnamese: Du sam) is a species of

conifer 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 ext ...

native to southern China,

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist s ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

. It can grow to a height of .

Taxonomic notes

Syn: ''Keteleeria delavayi'' Van Tieghem 1891; ''K. dopiana'' Flous 1936; ''K. roulletii'' Flous 1936; ''K. hainanensis'' Chun et Tsiang 1963; ''K. evelyniana var. pendula'' Hsueh 1983. Farjon (1989) provides a thorough taxonomic review of the genus.

Range and ecology

Laos, Vietnam (as far south as the Plateau of Lang Bian near

Da Lat Da Lat (also written as Dalat, vi, Đà Lạt; ), is the capital of Lâm Đồng Province and the largest city of the Central Highlands region in Vietnam. The city is located above sea level on the Langbian Plateau. Da Lat is one of the mo ...

), and China: SW

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of t ...

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...

(where it probably intergrades with '' K. davidiana''), and possibly the central mountains of

Hainan Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...

. ''Keteleeria evelyniana'' grows in Vietnam at elevations above and is shade intolerant, prefers neutral soils, and is typically associated with ''

Pinus A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden ...

'' spp. or with species of

Fagaceae The Fagaceae are a family of flowering plants that includes beeches, chestnuts and oaks, and comprises eight genera with about 927 species. Fagaceae in temperate regions are mostly deciduous, whereas in the tropics, many species occur as ever ...

and

Lauraceae Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant family that includes the true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genera worldwide (Christenhusz & Byng 2016 ). They are dicotyledons, and occur m ...

. It is the most widespread conifer in northwest Vietnam.

Cultivation and uses

The timber of ''Keteleeria evelyniana'' is insect resistant and is useful for construction and household furniture making. It may also be used in construction,

railroad tie A railroad tie, crosstie (American English), railway tie ( Canadian English) or railway sleeper ( Australian and British English) is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties tran ...

s, mine timbering and sundry house implements. The seeds are rich in essential oil that can be used for burning and soap manufacturing. The tree can also be used in

traditional medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...

. In mid-December 2009, a ''Keteleeria evelyniana'' located in Seattle's

Washington Park Arboretum Washington Park is a public park in Seattle, Washington, United States, most of which is taken up by the Washington Park Arboretum, a joint project of the University of Washington, the Seattle Parks and Recreation, and the nonprofit Arboretum ...

was cut down. It was thought that the unknown person who was responsible for the cutting down of the tree took it for a

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern ...

. The tree was planted in 1998, transplanted from

China's China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones ...

province. In 2013, the species was listed as vulnerable on

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biologi ...

after a 2010 assessment which found the tree's population to be in significant decline and fragmented. Keteleeria evelyniana.jpg Gardenology.org-IMG 0035 rbgm10dec.jpg Keteleeria evelyniana MHNT.BOT.205.0.1119.jpg,

Remarks

Listed (as ''K. roulletii'') as threatened in Vietnam by the

World Conservation Monitoring Centre The UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) is a collaboration centre of UN Environment Programme, based in Cambridge in the United Kingdom. UNEP-WCMC has been part of UN Environment Programme since 2000, and has ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q311945 Pinaceae Least concern plants Trees of China Trees of Laos Trees of Vietnam