Common Names
HONG SHAN (literally, red fir) [Chinese] (2).Taxonomic notes
Syn: L. himalaica (1); L. chinensis Beissner; L. thibetica Franchet (2).Description
"A tree [6-21 m] or sometimes [30 m] high. BARK grey or grey-brown, rough and fissured on old trees. BRANCHES short, horizontal. BRANCHLETS slender, weeping, grey. YOUNG SHOOTS shining orange-brown or purple-brown, smooth or very slightly hairy, glabrous before the end of the first year, older shoots grey. TERMINAl. BUDS egg-shaped, resinous; AXILLARY BUDS small, spreading, dark brown, resinous. LEAVES [19-29 mm] long, prominently keeled on both surfaces, 4-sided, apex pointed. CONES oblong or ovoid, reddish when young, violet-purple later, ultimately grey or greyish-brown, without stalks, up to [50 mm] long and [25 mm] wide, apex blunt; scales numerous, rounded, often with a central notch; bracts usually longer than the scales, the long points protruding beyond them. SEEDS about [3 mm] long, wing [6 mm] long, and almost as wide."L. potanini can be distinguished from other larches, except L. lyallii, by its 4-sided leaves, and from L. lyallii by its less hairy shoots" (2).
Range
China, 2500-4200m (1). "Wilson records it from the mountains of [Shaanxi] province westward to those of the Chino-Tibetan borderland. It is a common tree around [Kangding] at altitudes ranging from [2290-3350 m]. He further says, that it is a strikingly handsome tree and that it is the common larch of W. [Sichuan], where it occurs at elevations of [2290-3350 m] At its lower altitude it is scattered in moist woods, more especially by the sides of streams, with other conifers and broad-leaved trees, becoming more abundant as it ascends and forming forests at the higher alpine regions" (2).Big Tree
Oldest
Dendrochronology
Ethnobotany
" It is ... considered the most valuable coniferous timber in W. China" (2).Observations
Easily seen along the highway W of Kangding, Sichuan (Kham).Remarks
Citations
(1) Cheng & Fu 1987.(2) Dallimore & Jackson 1967.
[Larix] [Pinaceae] [home]
This page is from the Gymnosperm Database
URL: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/2285/pi/la/potaninii.htm
Edited by Christopher J. Earle
E-mail:earlecj@earthlink.net
Last modified on 21-Dec-98