Taiwania

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Taiwania, with the single living species Taiwania cryptomerioides, is a large coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae.

EtymologyEdit

Taiwania means 'from Taiwan', while cryptomerioides means 'resembling Cryptomeria.<ref name="gledhill">Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. Template:ISBN (hardback), Template:ISBN (paperback). pp 127, 370</ref>

TaxonomyEdit

The genus was formerly placed in the segregate family Taxodiaceae, it is now included in the monotypic subfamily Taiwanioideae of the family Cupressaceae.<ref name=":0" /> It is the second most basal member of the living Cupressaceae, with only Cunninghamia being more basal. Its lineage is thought to have diverged from the rest of Cupressaceae during the Middle Jurassic.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The oldest fossil assignable to the genus is from the mid-Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) of Alaska.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Other fossils of the genus are known from the Late Cretaceous of Asia, the Eocene of Asia and North America, and the Miocene of Europe and Asia.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

RangeEdit

File:The botanical magazine = Shokubutsugaku zasshi (1907) (20401224415).jpg

Taiwania cryptomerioides in the botanical magazine Shokubutsugaku zasshi (1907)

File:Taiwania cryptomerioides 1.JPG

Taiwania cryptomerioides' needle-like leaves.

It is native to eastern Asia, growing in the mountains of central Taiwan, and locally in southwest China (Guizhou, Hubei, Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet) and adjoining Myanmar, and northern Vietnam.<ref name=belinda>Template:WCSP</ref><ref name=":0">Template:EFloras</ref> 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.<ref name=IUCN/> 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.

MorphologyEdit

It is one of the largest tree species in Asia, reported to heights of up to Template:Convert tall and with a trunk up to Template:Convert diameter above buttressed base.<ref name=farjon>Farjon, A. (2005). Monograph of Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Template:ISBN</ref> The leaves are needle-like or awl-like and Template:Convert long on young trees up to about 100 years old, then gradually becoming more scale-like, Template:Convert long, on mature trees. The cones are small, Template:Convert long, with about 15–30 thin, fragile scales, each scale with two seeds.

HistoryEdit

The genus is named after the country 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 coffins. 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 in Taiwan.

Extraordinary specimensEdit

In 2022 a team of researchers measured a 79.1 meters (259.5 feet) Taiwania specimen in Shei-pa National Park. The tree was growing at an elevation of 2,000m.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2023 a specimen was found measuring 84.1 meters in height.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>