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Scientific name: Picea likiangensis (Franchet) E.Pritzel 1900
Synonyms: Abies likiangensis Franch., Picea likiangensis subsp. bhutanica (Silba) Silba, Picea likiangensis subsp. forrestii (Silba) Silba, Picea likiangensis var. bhutanica Silba, Picea likiangensis var. forrestii Silba, Picea likiangensis var. likiangensis, Picea yunnanensis Lacass.
Infraspecific taxa: Picea likiangensis var. hirtella W.C.Cheng, Picea likiangensis var. montigena (Mast.) W.C.Cheng, Picea likiangensis var. rubescens Rehder & E.H.Wilson
Common names: Lijiang spruce, Likiang spruce (English), Lijiang yunshan (Chinese)
Tree to 50 m tall, with trunk to 2.5 m in diameter. Bark gray with orange-brown patches soon breaking up into irregular blocks separated by deep vertical furrows. Crown conical, with long, thin, upswept branches bearing short side branches all around. New branchlets pale brownish yellow, variably hairy or not. Buds 4-6 mm long, resinous. Needles dark green on sides without stomatal lines, bluish green with wax when stomatal lines are present, 0.6-1.5 cm long, curved forward, square or somewhat flattened, with four to seven lines of stomates on the two inner faces and none to four lines on the outer ones, sharp to blunt. Pollen cones 20-25 mm long red. Seed cones 4-10(-12) cm long, red, yellow, or green before maturity, ripening medium brown to reddish brown. Seed scales variably shovel-shaped, with a toothed tip, thin and flexible. Seed body 2-4 mm long, the wing 5-10 mm longer.
Lijiang spruce is a major subalpine tree of the disconnected steep mountains of southwestern China, including the Lijiang (“beautiful river”) range, which gives it its name.
Southwestern China, from southern Qinghai to northwestern Yunnan. Forming pure stands or mixed with other conifers in subalpine forest; (2,500-)2,900-4,100 m.
Red List Category & Criteria: Vulnerable
In the absence of accurate range data, this taxon can be categorized as Vulnerable under criterion A2, based on an inferred population reduction of >30 % over the past three generations (75 years) due to the impacts of logging.
A subalpine spruce (2,900 m to 4,100 m a.s.l.) of the SW Plateau of China. It is usually associated with other conifers, e.g. Abies spp., Picea brachytyla, Larix potaninii, and Tsuga spp. at the lower elevations.
A reduction of 30% is inferred to have occurred within the last three generations. The current trend is uncertain. The reduction caused by logging in the past has left many mountain slopes formerly covered in forest open to grazing by cattle, reducing the possibilities of forest regeneration.
Likiang Spruce is a timber tree used for construction, machines, poles, furniture, and wood pulp for the paper industry. The bark is used to produce tannin, resin is tapped or distilled from the wood, and the needles produce aromatic oils. In Europe and North America this species and its varieties can be found growing in arboreta and botanic gardens, as well as in large private gardens with tree collections. The correct naming to variety of these trees is often problematic.
The Government of China has recently imposed a logging ban in western China.
Picea likiangensis ‘Blue Star’ Picea likiangensis ‘Folia’ Picea likiangensis ‘Halda China 14’ Picea likiangensis ‘Mittenwald’ Picea likiangensis ‘Purpurea Compacta’ Picea likiangensis ‘Tarka’ Picea likiangensis ‘WB’
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