Podocarpus chingianus
柱冠罗汉松 zhu guan luo han song [Chinese].
Syn.: Podocarpus macrophyllus (Thunb.) Sweet var. chingii N.E. Gray 1958. The molecular analysis by Knopf et al. (2012) placed it into a clade with the other Indonesian species of Podocarpus, but as that clade also includes P. macrophyllus, there is no very clear rationale for treating it at varietal or species rank. Recent treatments are divided, with Eckenwalder (2009) choosing varietal rank and Farjon (2010) choosing specific.
Monoecious evergreen trees to 8 m tall and 20 cm dbh, with ascending branches forming a dense, broad-columnar crown. Bark smooth, fibrous, brown weathering to gray-brown. Twigs angular, glabrous. Terminal foliage buds small, with carinate, occasionally spreading scales to 3 mm long. Leaves densely crowded, spirally arranged, spreading to erect and rigid, olive-green above and pale green below, sessile to short-petiolate, linear-lanceolate to oblanceolate, 12-35 × 2.5-4.5 mm gradually tapering to base; adult leaves have a raised upper midvein that is wider and not raised on the lower surface; obtuse apex. Stomata on lower surface of leaf, in many regular lines on both sides of the midvein. Pollen cones axillary, sessile, usually 2-3 per axil, cylindrical, 15-25 × 1.5-2 mm. Seed cones and seeds not described (Farjon 2010).
Gray (1958) adds that "The striking columnar habit and the very small leaves distinguish this variety. It most closely resembles Podocarpus macrophyllus var. maki, the foliage being a miniature of that variety. The foliage does not differ greatly from that of P. brevifolius which has the leaves mostly larger and tapering more quickly toward the base. The latter species, however, is a tree with stout, spreading branches and solitary male cones."
China: Jiangsu, Zhejiang, perhaps Sichuan, nominally at elevations of 0-1000 m, but there are very few collections of this species and almost nothing is known of its distribution or habitat. Observed occurrences are in secondary woodland and shrubby vegetation (Farjon 2010).
No data as of 2023.01.07.
No uses are known (Farjon 2010).
No records on iNaturalist as of 2023.01.04.
The epithet honors Chinese plant collector Ching Renchang.
Gray, Netta E. 1958. A Taxonomic Revision of Podocarpus, XI. The South Pacific Species of Section Podocarpus, Subsection B. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 39:474. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2023.01.08.
Hu, S. Y. 1964. Notes on the flora of China. IV. Gymnospermae. Taiwania 10:32.
Knopf, Patrick, Christian Schulz, Damon P. Little, Thomas Stützel, and Dennis W. Stevenson. 2012. Relationships within Podocarpaceae based on DNA sequence, anatomical, morphological, and biogeographical data. Cladistics 28(3):271–99. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-0031.2011.00381.x.
GBIF summary page, including collection records and images of several herbarium specimens.
Last Modified 2023-02-26
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