The Gymnosperm Database

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YaYa Qparung, one of the largest known trees of this species, about 2 meters diameter (the photographer's son is only 4 years old). Near Smangus, Xinchu County, northern Taiwan [Ludovic Angot, 2009].

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The Xianglin Giant Tree (香林神木) at Alishan National Scenic Area in Taiwan [Peellden, 2007.03.26].

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This is thought to be the largest tree ever recorded, described by Carder (1995). The photograph, from Clinton-Baker (1913), is credited to Mr. A.R. Firth.

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Line drawing (Li 1975).

 

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Conservation status 2013

Chamaecyparis formosensis

Matsum. 1901

Common names

Taxonomic notes

Syn. Cupressus formosensis (Matsum.) A. Henry 1910. Closely allied to Ch. pisifera, from which it differs in its more oblong cones (not globose), with the scales flat or slightly protuberant, not depressed in the centre.

Description

A tree attaining huge size in Taiwan, up to 65 m. Bark more or less red-brown. Branchlets in a horizontal plane. Shoots flattened. Leaves scale-like, shortly mucronate, triangular, upper surface green, whitish below, lateral scales of the same length as the facial ones, which have a glandular pit each; when crushed, foliage has an odour of rotting seaweed. Mature cones elliptic, 7-10(-12) mm long, 6-8(-9) mm across, composed of 10 to 14 scales with the outer surface brown, wrinkled and flat or slightly protuberant in the centre. Seeds 3 mm wide and brown, 2 on each scale (Vidakovic 1991; M.P. Frankis email 1999.02.03).

Distribution and Ecology

Taiwan. Mountainous regions in the north and central parts of the island at 1000-3000 m, often forming pure stands or mixed with C. obtusa var. formosana (Li 1975). Kaoxiung & Taichung Xians, 24°17' to 24°23'N by 120°58' to 121°21'E, in coniferous and broadleaf mixed forest (HAST 1999). Hardy to Zone 8 (cold hardiness limit between -12.1°C and -6.7°C) (Bannister and Neuner 2001).

Remarkable Specimens

This largest tree recorded has diameter 582 cm, height 49.4 m, and grows on Mount Morrison (Carder 1995).

Of the 10 biggest trees in Taiwan (ca. 2010), 9 of them are Ch. formosensis. Ludovic Angot (email 2013.11.27) compiled the following list identifying them:

DBH Height Name Location
656 cm 55 m Taiwan “juwu bashen mu” (giant god wood) Miaoli Tai An township, Da An river nb 75
653 cm 30 m Lu Lin God wood, Shin Zhong Shin Zhong Hen 88th km, Alishan 219 lin ban
611 cm 42 m Yu huo Feng huang taoyuan xian, Fu Xin township, Da Guan Shan 18
567 cm 48 m Mian yue (sleeping moon) Between Alishan And Xitou (Nantou county)
532 cm 34 m Guan Wu number 2 (Fog observer) Guan Wu forest recreation park (Hsinchu, Jien Shi Township)
557 cm 35 m Smangus giant wood Dan Shi 89th lin ban
509 cm 36 m Reservoir god tree Alishan 7 lin ban number 8
446 cm 55 m Ling Yun (higher than cloud) god tree Taoyuan xian, Fu Xin township, Da Guan Shan 21
433 cm 47.1 m Guan Wu number 1 (Fog observer) Guan Wu forest recreation park (Hsinchu, Jien Shi Township)

The oldest reported living tree was 818 years old (408 years of which was crossdated) in 2016, for a tree on Mt. Daxue, Taiwan, sampled as part of a dendroclimatic investigation (Liu et al. 2017).

Ethnobotany

Observations

Remarks

Citations

Clinton-Baker, H. 1913. Illustrations of Conifers, Vol. 3. Privately printed: Hertford. Available at openlibrary.org.

Herbarium of the Research Center For Biodiversity, Academia Sinica, Taipei [HAST]. 1999. Database output at http://www2.sinica.edu.tw:8080/hast/eindex.html, accessed 1999.03.15, now defunct.

Liu, Y., K. M. Cobb, H. Song H, et al. 2017. Recent enhancement of central Pacific El Nino variability relative to last eight centuries. Nature Communications 8:15386.

Welch, H.J. and G. Haddow 1993. The World Checklist of Conifers.

This page co-edited with M.P. Frankis, 1999.02.

See also

The species account at Threatened Conifers of the World.

Farjon (2005).

Huang 1994 (the Flora of Taiwan).

Last Modified 2023-10-31