Cunninghamia

Cunninghamia
Temporal range: Campanian–Recent
Cunninghamia lanceolata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Gymnospermae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Cupressales
Family: Cupressaceae
Subfamily: Cunninghamioideae
(Zucc. ex Endl.) Quinn
Genus: Cunninghamia
R.Br. ex Richard & Richard
Type species
Cunninghamia sinensis
R.Br. ex Richard & Richard
Species
Synonyms[1]
  • Belis Salisb.
  • Jacularia Raf.
  • Raxopitys J.Nelson

Cunninghamia is a genus of one[2] or two living species of evergreen coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae.[3] They are native to China, northern Vietnam and Laos, and perhaps also Cambodia.[2] They may reach 50 m (160 ft) in height.[2] In vernacular use, it is most often known as Cunninghamia, but is also sometimes called "China-fir" (though it is not a fir). The genus name Cunninghamia honours Dr. James Cunningham, a British doctor who introduced this species into cultivation in 1702 and botanist Allan Cunningham.[4]

A female cone
Cluster of male cones
Released seeds collected from the ground
  1. ^ Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. ^ a b c Fu, Liguo; Yu, Yong-fu; Adams, Robert P.; Farjon, Aljos. "Cunninghamia". Flora of China. Vol. 4. Retrieved 9 September 2012 – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  3. ^ "Cunninghamia". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  4. ^ Brown, Robert (1866). "On the structure of the female flower in Cycadae and Coniferae". The Miscellaneous Botanical Works of Robert Brown. Vol. 1. p. 461.