Keteleeria

Genus of conifers From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Keteleeria is a genus of three species of coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae first described as a genus in 1866.[1][2]

Quick facts Scientific classification, Type species ...
Keteleeria
Temporal range: Barremian–Recent
Keteleeria evelyniana leaves
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Gymnospermae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Pinaceae
Subfamily: Abietoideae
Genus: Keteleeria
Carrière
Type species
Keteleeria fortunei
(Murray) Carrière
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The genus name Keteleeria honours J.B. Keteleer (1813–1903), a French nurseryman. The group is related to the genera Nothotsuga and Pseudolarix. It is distinguished from Nothotsuga by the much larger cones, and from Pseudolarix by the evergreen leaves and the cones not disintegrating readily at maturity. All three genera share the unusual feature of male cones produced in umbels of several together from a single bud, and also in their ability, very rare in the Pinaceae, of being able to coppice.

The genus is found in southern China (from Shaanxi south to Guangdong, Yunnan and Hainan), Hong Kong, Taiwan, northern Laos, and Vietnam.[3]

They are evergreen trees reaching 35 m (115 ft) tall. The leaves are flat, needle-like, 1.5–7 cm (9162+34 in) long and 2–4 cm (13161+916 in) broad. The cones are erect, 6–22 cm (2+388+1116 in) long, and mature in about 6–8 months after pollination; cone size and scale shape is very variable within all three species.

The variability of the cones has led in the past to the description of several additional species (up to 16 'species' have been named), but most authorities now only accept three species. Flora of China, however, recognized five.[4]

Phylogeny

Keteleeria heterophylloides
Latah Formation, Spokane, Washington
More information Stull et al. 2021 ...
Stull et al. 2021[5][6]
Keteleeria

K. davidiana (Bertrand) Beissner

K. evelyniana Masters (Evelyn keteleeria)

K. fortunei (Murray 1862) Carrière

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The World Checklist maintained by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew accepts the following:[3]

Species[3]
formerly included[3]

moved to Abies

Fossil record

The earliest record of the genus is from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian -Aptian ~120 million years ago) of China.[8]

Fossil pollen of Keteleeria caucasica have been recovered from strata of the Late Miocene in Georgia in the Caucasus region.[9] Undescribed Keteleeria sp. fossils are known from the early Pleistocene of southern Portugal[10] and the Coldwater Beds in the Early Eocene Okanagan Highlands of Canada.[11] Named species based on cones, leaves, pollen, seeds, and wood have been described from Cretaceous through Pliocene sediments in Europe, North America and Asia.[12]

Several fossil species were formerly included in Keteleeria but have been moved:

  • Abiespollenites davidianaeformis (Zaklinsk.) Krutzsch formerly Keteleeria davidianaeformis Zaklinsk.
  • Abiespollenites dubius (Chlon.) Krutzsch formerly Keteleeria dubia Chlon.
  • Cathaya bergeri (Kirchheim.) Wilf. Schneider ex Mai & E. Velitzelos formerly Keteleeria bergeri Kirchheim.
  • Cathaya loehri (Engelh. & Kink.) Chun & Kuang formerly Keteleeria loehri Engelh. & Kink.

References

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