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

Cathaya is a genus in the pine family, Pinaceae, with one known living species, Cathaya argyrophylla.^[2] Cathaya is a member of the subfamily Laricoideae, most closely related to Pseudotsuga and Larix. A second species, C. nanchuanensis, is now treated as a synonym,^[3] 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 found on steep, narrow mountain slopes at 950–1800 m altitude, on limestone soils. 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 cm long, have ciliate (hairy) margins when young, and grow around the stems in a spiral pattern. The cones are 3–5 cm long, with about 15–20 scales, each scale bearing two winged seeds.

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 Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia had a small living specimen. The tree died in 2017.

Whistling Gardens in Wilsonville, Ontario has a young specimen in its plant collection.

Hoyt Arboretum in Portland, Oregon has a specimen in its collection. Hoyt’s tree is propagated from a tree that was probably imported illegally back in the 1990s.