Keteleeria is a genus of three species of coniferous trees in the pine family, Pinaceae, first described as a genus in 1866.Carrière, Élie Abel. 1866. Revue Horticole 37: 449Tropicos, Keteleeria Carrière
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.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
They are coniferous trees reaching tall. The leaves are flat, needle-like, long and broad. The cones are erect, 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.
Phylogeny
Stull et al. 2021
The World Checklist maintained by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew accepts the following: Species Keteleeria davidiana — central and southern China, Taiwan Keteleeria evelyniana — Sichuan, Yunnan, N Laos, Vietnam Keteleeria fortunei — southern China †Keteleeria heterophylloides - Miocene (Langhian) Latah Formation, Washington formerly included moved to Abies Keteleeria fabri =Abies fabri — Sichuan
Fossil record
The earliest record of the genus is from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian -Aptian ~120 million years ago) of China.
Fossil pollen of Keteleeria caucasica have been recovered from strata of the Late Miocene in Georgia in the Caucasus region.The History of the Flora and Vegetation of Georgia by Irina Shatilova, Nino Mchedlishvili, Luara Rukhadze, Eliso Kvavadze, Georgian National Museum Institute of Paleobiology, Tbilisi 2011, Undescribed Keteleeria sp. fossils are known from the early Pleistocene of southern PortugalFernando Reboredo, Forest Context and Policies in Portugal: Present and Future Challenges, Springer, 28 August 2014 - and the Coldwater Beds in the Early Eocene Okanagan Highlands of Canada. Named species based on cones, leaves, pollen, seeds, and wood have been described from Cretaceous through Pliocene sediments in Europe, North America and Asia.
Keteleeria caucasica - pollen; Miocene, Kulistskhali river, Georgia Keteleeria cretacea - cones; Cretaceous, Izumi Group, Japan Keteleeria ezoana - cones & seeds; Miocene, Yoshioka, Japan Keteleeria heterophylloides - leaves; Miocene, Latah Formation, Washington, US Keteleeria hoehnei - cones; Miocene, Wiesa near Kamenz, Germany Keteleeria mabetiensis - wood; Miocene, Mabechi River; Japan Keteleeria microreticulata - pollen; Miocene, Taganrog peninsula, Russia Keteleeria prambachensis - Oligocene, Prambachkirchen, Austria Keteleeria rhenana - seeds; Miocene, Mainz-Kastel, Germany Keteleeria robusta - cones; Pliocene, Tokitsu, Japan Keteleeria rujadana - cones; Oligocene Rujada flora, Oregon, US Keteleeria shanwangensis - cones; Miocene, Shanwang Formation, Shandong, China Keteleeria zhilinii - - wood; Pliocene, Pavlovsky basin, Primorye, Russia
Several fossil species were formerly included in Keteleeria but have been moved: Abiespollenites davidianaeformis formerly Keteleeria davidianaeformis Abiespollenites dubius formerly Keteleeria dubia Cathaya bergeri formerly Keteleeria bergeri Cathaya loehri formerly Keteleeria loehri
References
External links
Arboretum de Villardebelle - photos of cones Gymnosperm Database