postage stamp
Chinese stamp honoring A. beshanzuensis (2).
Abies beshanzuensis Wu 1976

Common Names

Baishan fir; Baishanzu lengshan (1).

Taxonomic notes

Has been placed in synonymy with A. delavayi but is here treated as a distinct species, both geographically and morphologically distinct from several other similar firs: A. firma, A. fabri, A. kawakamii and A. homolepis. Of these, it is perhaps most similar to A. firma and is accordingly placed in Section Momi, subsect. Firmae. The similar A. dayuanensis of China: Hunan (see Liu 1988) may be synonymous (1).

Description

See (1).

Range

China: S Zhejiang. Extremely rare, with only 3 known individuals in the wild as of 1988. The population at discovery in 1963 consisted of only 7 individuals, of which 3 were removed to the Beijing Botanic Gardens and subsequently died there. The species is only known from the type locality, a single grove at 1500-1700 m elevation on Baishanzu (elev. 1857 m) in the Tung-Kung Range, NE of Qingyuan (27° 45' N, 119° 11' E). The maritime climate features warm summers and cool, moist winters (precipitation ca. 1250 mm). The species occurs in a mixed stand with other conifers, such as broad-leaved trees such as Castanopsis spp., Fagus lucida, Quercus spp., Acer spp., Magnolia cylindrica and Lithocarpus hancei; and a few conifers, including Cryptomeria fortunei, Tsuga chinensis, Cephalotaxus sinensis and Taxus chinensis (1).

Big Tree

Oldest

Dendrochronology

Ethnobotany

Observations

Remarks

"Efforts of replanting with grafted stock (on A. firma) seem to be successful at its original locality and on nearby sites" (1).

Citations

(1) Farjon 1990.
(2) Stamp designed by Zeng Xiaolian and issued 10-Mar-1992. Image available at http://www.bupt.edu.cn/stamp/plant/92_3.htm, accessed 12-Apr-1999.

See also:
Dudley 1988 (in (1)).
Liu 1988 (in (1)).


[Abies] [Pinaceae] [home]

This page is from the Gymnosperm Database
URL: http://www.geocities.com/~earlecj/pi/ab/beshanzuensis.htm
Edited by Christopher J. Earle
E-mail:earlecj@earthlink.com
Last modified on 12-Apr-1999

1