Common Names

Taxonomic notes

The sole species in Microbiota Komarov 1923.

Description

Monoecious evergreen shrub with low crown, up to 50 cm tall in nature, to 100 cm in cultivation. Shoots flat, bark brown. Leaves on generative shoots are oval-shaped, 2 mm long, 2 mm wide; on vegetative shoots - oval, pointed, with eliptic gland on upper side (leaves in shadowed inner parts of crown lack glands). Some leaves can be needle-shaped. Cones dry, to 6 mm long, 3 mm wide, with scales 3 mm long. Each cone produces 1 seed. Seeds upright, rounded-oval, smooth, brown, wingless. Pollination April-May, seeds mature August-October (Harkevich and Kachura 1981).

Range

Russia: Sikhote Alin Province, Primoriye (near Suchan River) (Farjon 2005).

Big Tree

Oldest

Dendrochronology

Ethnobotany

Observations

Remarks

Conservation status unknown, but very limited in distribution (WCMC).

"Some plants cover up to 4 sq. m, but they are only 20-50 cm high. It is listed as rare species in Red Book of Russia, but it is not under threat, as most populations exist on rarely visited mountain tops. It is well-adapted to fire. Lightning often provokes spectacular explosions of oil fumes on Microbiota-covered summits, but with no harm to the plants themselves. Ude people call it kurumkurinda, 'talus pillow' " (Vladimir Dinets, e-mails, 2 and 10 Jan 1998).

Citations

Harkevich, S. and N. Kachura. 1981. Rare Plant Species of The Soviet Far East and Their Conservation. Nauka, Moscow (in Russian).

See Also

Farjon (2005) provides a detailed account, with illustrations.