Cathaya

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Cathaya Temporal range: 30.0–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Gymnospermae
Division:	Pinophyta
Class:	Pinopsida
Order:	Pinales
Family:	Pinaceae
Subfamily:	Laricoideae
Genus:	Cathaya Chun & Kuang
Species:	C. argyrophylla
Binomial name
Cathaya argyrophylla Chun & Kuang
Species[2][3]
Cathaya argyrophylla Chun & Kuang †Cathaya loehri (Engelhardt & Kinkelin) Chun & Kuang
Synonyms[4]
Pseudotsuga argyrophylla (Chun & Kuang) Greguss Tsuga argyrophylla (Chun & Kuang) de Laub. & Silba Cathaya argyrophylla subsp. nanchuanensis (Chun & Kuang) Silba Cathaya argyrophylla subsp. sutchuenensis Silba Cathaya nanchuanensis Chun & Kuang

Cathaya is a genus in the pine family, Pinaceae, with one known living species, Cathaya argyrophylla.^[2] In foliage and cone morphology, Cathaya has been considered a member of the subfamily Laricoideae, closely related to Pseudotsuga and Larix,^[5][3] but more recent genetic studies have suggested a closer relationship to Pinus and Picea in the subfamily Pinoideae.^[6][7] A second species, C. nanchuanensis, is now treated as a synonym,^[8] as it does not differ from C. argyrophylla in any characters.

Cathaya is confined to a limited area in southern China, in the provinces of Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan and southeast Sichuan. It is an evergreen tree growing to 20 m (66 ft) tall and a trunk up to 60 cm (24 in) diameter, found on steep, narrow mountain slopes at 950–1,800 m (3,100–5,900 ft) altitude on limestone soils.^[3] A larger population has been reduced by over-cutting before its scientific discovery and protection in 1950.

The leaves are needle-like, 2.5–5.5 cm (1.0–2.2 in) long, have ciliate (hairy) margins when young, and grow around the stems in a spiral pattern. The cones are 3–5 cm (1.2–2.0 in) long, with about 15–20 scales, each scale bearing two winged seeds.^[3]

One or two botanists, unhappy with the idea of a new genus in such a familiar family, tried to shoehorn it into other existing genera, as Pseudotsuga argyrophylla and Tsuga argyrophylla.^[4] It is however very distinct from both of these genera, and these combinations are not now used.

The species was introduced into Europe and North America in the 1990s.^[9]

The extinct fossil species Cathaya loehri (Engelhardt & Kinkelin) Chun & Kuang is described from the Miocene and Pliocene of Germany and France;^[3] other Cathaya fossils are known from the Miocene and Pliocene of eastern Siberia,^[3] and from the early Pleistocene of southern Portugal.^[10] They are abundant in European brown coal deposits dating from between 10 and 30 million years ago.^[3]

• Gymnosperm Database: Cathaya argyrophylla
• Conifers Around the World: Cathaya argyrophylla