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Scientific name: Cephalotaxus fortunei W.J. Hooker 1850
Synonyms: Cephalotaxus kaempferi auct., Taxus fortunei (Hook.) C.Lawson
Infraspecific taxa: Cephalotaxus fortunei var. alpina H.L.Li 1953
Common names: Chinese plum yew, Fortune's yew plum, Fortune's plum yew (English), San jian shan (Chinese)
Tree or shrub to 20(-26) m tall, with trunk to 0.4 m in diameter. Bark reddish brown to purple, weathering gray, smooth at first, flaking in scales and then peeling in long shreds. Crown thin, open, and irregular. Branchlets turning greenish yellow in the second year. Leaves needlelike, well separated from one another, spreading flat or drooping at the tips, glossy dark green above, dull beneath, the light green to white stomatal bands much wider than the midrib region, each band with (13-)17-24 lines of stomates. Needles (1.5-)4-9(-12.5) cm long, (1.5-)2.5-5(-7) mm wide, sword-shaped, straight or slightly curved forward, widest before the middle, tapering very gradually to the narrowly triangular tip with a soft point up to 2 mm long, and more abruptly to the roundly wedge-shaped base on a very short petiole, flat around the midrib, the edges flat or narrowly turned down. Pollen cone clusters 5-10 mm in diameter with 6-14 pollen cones on a stalk (0-)2-5 mm long. Seed cones in groups of three to six on stalks 3-20 mm long. Seeds 1.5-4.5 cm long, the skin passing from yellowish green to purple or greenish brown with maturity, obscurely to prominently ribbed.
The species name honors Robert Fortune (1812 - 1880), the Scottish plant explorer who smuggled living tea plants out of China for the East India Company and who collected the type specimen of this species in eastern China in 1848.
Southern and central China and adjacent northern Myanmar, from southern Gansu and northern Shaanxi to Zhejiang, south to Yunnan, Guangxi, and Guangdong. Scattered in the canopy or understory of moist broad-leaved and mixed forest, from lowlands to subalpine forest, especially near streams, and in secondary forests and thickets; (200-)350-2,000(-3,700) m.
Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern
A very widespread and common species with no major threats. It regenerates well in secondary and disturbed forest, hence is listed as Least Concern.
Cephalotaxus fortunei occurs as an understorey tree or shrub in mixed broad-leaved (angiosperm) forests, in mixed conifer-broad-leaved forests and in coniferous forests (Abies and Picea). It is also common as a shrub or small tree in open thickets and on roadsides in secondary vegetation. Its altitudinal range is great and extends from 200 m to 3,700 m a.s.l., with Cephalotaxus fortunei var. alpina at the higher range between (1,100-)1,800 m and 3,700 m a.s.l. In the Lower Yangtze Valley var. fortunei occurs in remnants of mixed mesophytic forest with Acer spp., Catalpa ovata, Fraxinus chinensis, Ilex latifolia, Liquidambar formosana, Nyssa sinensis, Quercus spp., and many other angiosperm trees. Most of these forest remnants are disturbed and/or replaced by secondary shrubby vegetation, in which Cephalotaxus fortunei may recur. In the evergreen broad-leaved forests of Fujian, which are also remnants, Cephalotaxus fortunei var. fortunei occurs in the understorey of oaks (Quercus spp.) but mixed with many other tree species, some of which are conifers like Nageia nagi, Keteleeria fortunei and Fokienia hodginsii. In southern Gansu, Shaanxi and Sichuan var. alpina occurs in very different forests dominated by Abies, Picea or Larix, or a mixture of these conifers, between 1,800 m and ,3600 m a.s.l. Here it is a subcanopy tree or shrub, often accompanied by Taxus chinensis and shrubs like Eurya and Rhododendron.
The wood of this species is of limited economic value; the main uses are in horticulture. It grows into a large shrub or small tree and the long leaves of this species are decorative. It is suitable for pruning and hedge clipping. The hardiness will much depend on provenance, given the wide range of the species in China. A limited number of cultivars, some of doubtful validity and originally described as varieties with shorter or longer leaves "than the type", are known and may still be in cultivation. Long-leaved forms seem to be especially popular with gardeners and the Hillier Nurseries in Hampshire, England, have developed several cultivars with such leaves in recent years. In China, oil extracted from the succulent aril enclosing the seed was traditionally used as lamp oil. The leaves and bark are used to extract chemicals for treating cancer.
Occurs in a number of protected areas across its range.
Cephalotaxus fortunei ‘Brevifolia’ Cephalotaxus fortunei ‘Grandis’ Cephalotaxus fortunei ‘Lion's Plume’ Cephalotaxus fortunei ‘Longifolia’ Cephalotaxus fortunei ‘Pendula’ Cephalotaxus fortunei ‘Prostrata’ Cephalotaxus fortunei ‘Prostrate Spreader’ Cephalotaxus fortunei ‘Robusta’ Cephalotaxus fortunei ‘Yellow Form’
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