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Scientific name: Nothotsuga longibracteata (W.C.Cheng) H.H.Hu ex C.N.Page 1989
Synonyms: Nothotsuga×tsugo-keteleeria (W.C. Cheng) Van Campo & Gaussen, Tsuga longibracteata W.C.Cheng, ×Tsugo-keteleeria longibracteata (W.C.Cheng) Van Campo & Gaussen
Common names: Bristlecone hemlock (English), Chang bao tie shan (Chinese)
Erect or shrubby tree to 8-30 m tall, with trunk to 0.3-1.2 m in diameter. Bark brownish gray, rough, scaly, becoming furrowed with age. Crown conical at first, becoming flat-topped with age. Twigs yellowish brown or reddish brown, usually hairless but sometimes thinly hairy. Winter buds pointed, 2-4 mm long. Needles fairly uniform in length, 1.1-2.4 cm long, parallel-sided, the edge smooth, the tip bluntly pointed, with 5-12 stomatal lines above and two broad greenish white stomatal bands beneath. Pollen cones 5-10 mm long, yellow. Seed cones 2-5(-6) cm long on stalks 5-10 mm long, opening to 1.5-2.5(-3) cm wide, reddish purple before maturity, ripening dark brown. Seed scales 10-15(-22) mm long, broader than long. Bracts spoon-shaped, 7-18 mm long, visible among the seed scales but not protruding far. Seeds 4-8 mm long, the firmly attached wing another 6-12 mm longer.
South-central China, from Guangxi and northeastern Guizhou to southern Fujian. Scattered in groups on moist mountains in broad-leaved evergreen or mixed forest; (300-)1,000-2,300(-3,200) m.
Red List Category & Criteria: Near Threatened
Nothotsuga longibracteata has a narrow ecological niche and a scattered, fragmented distribution. Past logging and general deforestation has had an impact on this naturally rare species and it is likely that this reduction is close to the thresholds for listing as threatened. An assessment of Near Threatened reflects this past reduction and highlights the need for continued monitoring and the enforcement of logging regulations.
This taxon was first described as a species of Tsuga by the well-known Chinese botanist W.C. Cheng in 1932. Hu (1951) proposed a separate genus Nothotsuga for this species, but failed to give a Latin description; the genus name was then validated by Page (1989). French botanists in the 'School of Gaussen' at Toulouse proposed a generic hybrid origin between Keteleeria and Tsuga, but gave no evidence for this and applied an illegitimate name. Chinese botanists (e.g. Flora of China 4: 39-40, 1999) do not recognize its status as a distinct genus, but there are several distinctive characters in both male and female cones not shared by other species of Tsuga in Asia or North America that appear to justify generic recognition. Its phylogenetic position based on both morphological and DNA data confirms this taxonomy. Despite its name, there is no evidence that this taxon is of hybrid origin.
Nothotsuga longibracteata occurs on low to medium high mountains, at elevations between 300 and 2,300(-3,200) m a.s.l. It grows on both red and yellow earth. The climate is humid and warm-temperate to wet and cool, with annual precipitation between 1,000-2,000 mm. The species occurs in two forest formations (Wang 1961). In the evergreen broad-leaved forest formation mostly with sclerophyllous broad-leaved trees such as Castanopsis spp., Lithocarpus spp., Quercus spp., and with Fokienia hodginsii; in the deciduous mixed mesophytic forest at higher elevations with Fagus longipetiolata, Tetracentron sinensis, Nyssa sinensis, Acer angustilobium, Davidia involucrata, Sorbus spp., etc. In the evergreen broad-leaved forest formation there are stands of pure Nothotsuga longibracteata and Tsuga chinensis. Pinus massoniana or Pinus fenzeliana (syn. Pinus kwangtungensis) locally dominate the general canopy of broad-leaved trees on poorer sites, where Nothotsuga longibracteata is also concentrated. The ecological niche of this species is considered to be very narrow.
This species was considered to be Endangered, because it is very rare despite its relatively wide distribution. Large scale logging has depleted the number of trees to an unquantified extent and substantial parts of forest where this species could have occurred have gone, especially at lower elevations. Logging has largely ceased and no specific current threats have been identified.
In China this species is considered to be a desirable forest tree suitable for afforestation. Its use as a timber tree must be limited due to its rarity. It is not in general cultivation outside China and rare in botanical collections. A few plants of this species are in cultivation at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and elsewhere, though it has proved to be very slow growing and quite difficult to grow well.
Several populations of this species occur within protected areas, but other populations are situated outside such reserves. The Chinese Government has issued a logging ban effective in the remaining native forests, which should benefit this species.
Copyright © Aljos Farjon, James E. Eckenwalder, IUCN, Conifers Garden. All rights reserved.
