Fokienia

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Fokienia is a genus of conifer in the cypress family, Cupressaceae. In its characteristics, Fokienia is intermediate between the genera of Chamaecyparis and Calocedrus. Genetically Fokienia is much closer to Chamaecyparis, and not all researchers recognize Fokienia as a separate genus. The genus comprises only one living species, Fokienia hodginsii or Fujian cypress (Chinese: 福建柏; pinyin: Fújiànbǎi; Vietnamese: Pơmu), and one fossil species (Fokienia ravenscragensis). Fokienia hodginsii is native from southeastern China (provinces of Zhejiang, Guizhou, Yunnan and Fujian) to Northern Vietnam (provinces of Ha Bac, Hà Giang, Hà Tĩnh, Hòa Bình, Sơn La, Nghệ An, Lào Cai, Lai Châu, Thanh Hóa, Tuyên Quang, Yên Bái and Vĩnh Phú), west central Vietnam (provinces of Đắk Lắk, Gia Lai, Lâm Đồng), and west to northern Laos. The name derives from the old romanised name of Fujian province, China, from where the first specimen was introduced to Europe, collected by Captain Hodgins in 1908. Fokienia is a medium-sized tree, 25–30 m tall. It has greyish-brownish bark that peels off when the tree is young. On older trees, the bark presents longitudinal fissures and becomes aromatic. The leaves are arranged in flattened branchlet systems, with the branchlets in one plane. The leaves on adult trees are in opposite decussate pairs, the alternating pairs not evenly spaced so appearing as whorls of 4 at the same level; they are sub-acute, about 2–5 mm long, glossy green above, and with white stomatal bands below. The lateral leaves are ovate and compressed, and facial leaves are oblanceolate with a triangular apex. On young trees, the leaves are larger, up to 8–10 mm long and 6 mm broad. The male cones are oval or cylindrical, around 2.5 mm long, terminal on the shoots. They have from 3 to 5 pairs of scales. The female cones are much...