 | Larix potaninii Batalin 1894Common NamesHONG SHAN (literally, red fir) [Chinese] (2).Taxonomic notesSyn: 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). RangeChina, 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 TreeOldestDendrochronologyEthnobotany" It is ... considered the most valuable coniferous timber in W. China" (2).ObservationsEasily seen along the highway W of Kangding, Sichuan (Kham).RemarksCitations(1) Cheng & Fu 1987.(2) Dallimore & Jackson 1967. |
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