Common names
Japanese umbrella pine.Taxonomic notes
The family was formerly included as a genus within Cupressaceae (Taxodiaceae), but recent genetic studies (1) have shown that it is clearly not allied with that group. The family is elevated to the rank of Order by some authors; Sciadopityales Takht. ex Reveal 1993. Relationships remain unclear, but there is some suggestion of a distant alliance to the Podocarpaceae, supported by wood structure and cpDNA analysis (1). All authorities agree that the family contains a single species, Sciadopitys verticillata, which see.Citations
(1) Brunsfeld, Steven J., Pamela E. Soltis, Douglas E. Soltis, Paul A. Gedek, Christopher J. Quinn, Darren D. Strenge and Tom A. Ranker. 1994. Phylogenetic relationships among the genera of Taxodiaceae and Cupressaceae: evidence from rbcL sequences. Systematic Botany 19(2): 253-262.See also:
Hayata B. 1931. The Sciadopityaceae represented by Sciadopitys verticillata Sieb. et Zucc. an endemic species of Japan. Botanical Magazine of Tokyo 45: 567-569.
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This page is from the Gymnosperm Database
URL: http://www.geocities.com/~earlecj/sc/index.htm
Edited by Christopher J. Earle
E-mail: earlecj@earthlink.net
Last modified on 21-Feb-1999