''Amentotaxus formosana'', the Taiwan catkin yew, is a species of

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

in the family

Taxaceae Taxaceae (), commonly called the yew family, is a coniferous family (biology), family which includes six Extant taxon, extant and two extinct genera, and about 30 species of plants, or in older interpretations three genera and 7 to 12 species. ...

. It is a small tree to tall, with a slender trunk. It was previously recognised as a variant of ''

Amentotaxus argotaenia ''Amentotaxus argotaenia'', the catkin yew, is a species of conifer in the family Taxaceae. It is a shrub or a small tree up to tall. ''Amentotaxus argotaenia'' var. ''brevifolia'' has been described from southern Guizhou and listed separately ...

''. ''Amentotaxus formosana'' is found only in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

where it only occurs in four localities of cloud forest in the

Hengchun Peninsula Hengchun Peninsula () is a peninsula located in Pingtung County, Taiwan, and is named after Hengchun Township. It is the southernmost part of Taiwan. The Hengchun Peninsula is surrounded by the sea on three sides: the Taiwan Strait to the west, th ...

, in the extreme south of the island.

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

considers ''A. formosana'' as

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

because of its populations are small and threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

. The populations are characterized by very low levels of genetic diversity. The wood is used for making furniture and handicrafts, etc., and the species is sometimes cultivated as an ornamental tree.

References

formosana Endemic flora of Taiwan Trees of Taiwan Critically endangered plants Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{conifer-stub