''Keteleeria evelyniana'' (Evelyn keteleeria, ,

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

: Du sam) 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 ...

native to southern China,

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. 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, or Dalat (; ), is the capital of Lâm Đồng Province and the largest city of the Central Highlands (Vietnam), Central Highlands region in Vietnam. The city is located above sea level on the Langbiang Plateau. Da Lat is one of the mos ...

), and China: SW

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

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

Hainan Hainan is an island provinces of China, province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally mean ...

. ''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. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as c ...

'' 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 around 1,000 or more species. Fagaceae in temperate regions are mostly deciduous, whereas in the tropics, many species ...

and

Lauraceae Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant Family (biology), family that includes the bay laurel, true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genus (biology), genera worldwide. They are dicotyled ...

. 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 trans ...

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) refers to the knowledge, skills, and practices rooted in the cultural beliefs of various societies, especially Indigenous groups, used for maintaining health and treatin ...

. 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 F ...

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 pinophyta, conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, associated with the celebration of Christmas. It may also consist of an artificial tree of similar appearance. The custom was deve ...

. The tree was planted in 1998, and transplanted from China's

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 an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological spe ...

after a 2010 assessment which found the tree's population to be in significant decline and fragmented. It is 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 the specialist biodiversity centre of UN Environment Programme, based in Cambridge in the United Kingdom. UNEP-WCMC has been part of UN Environment Programme since 20 ...

. Keteleeria evelyniana.jpg Gardenology.org-IMG 0035 rbgm10dec.jpg Keteleeria evelyniana MHNT.BOT.205.0.1119.jpg,

References

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