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Cupressus austrotibetica

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cupressus austrotibetica
Cupressus austrotibetica tall emergent trees in the Parlung Tsangpo valley in Tibet
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Gymnospermae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Cupressales
Family: Cupressaceae
Genus: Cupressus
Species:
C. austrotibetica
Binomial name
Cupressus austrotibetica

Cupressus austrotibetica is a species of cypress tree native to the deep valleys of the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon area in the south of Tibet. The species name translates as 'south Tibetan cypress'.

Description

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It is a large to extremely large tree, growing up to 102 metres tall, making it the second tallest tree species on Earth after Sequoia sempervirens.[1][2] The bark is thick, grey-brown, vertically furrowed. It is distinguished from other Cupressus species by its extremely slender, thread-like shoots under 1 mm thick, and small cones just 12-16 mm long and under 12 mm diameter, with 8–12 scales.[2]

Distribution

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Cupressus austrotibetica is native to the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon system, particularly its tributary the Parlung Tsangpo, at 1980-2800 m altitude.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Ren, Yu; Guan, Hongcan; Yang, Haitao; Su, Yanjun; Tao, Shengli; Cheng, Kai; Li, Wenkai; Yang, Zekun; Huang, Guoran; Li, Cheng; Xu, Guangcai; Lu, Zhi; Guo, Qinghua (2024). "Discovering and measuring giant trees through the integration of multi‐platform lidar data". Methods in Ecology and Evolution. 15 (10): 1889–1905. doi:10.1111/2041-210X.14401. ISSN 2041-210X.
  2. ^ a b c Earle, Christopher J., ed. (2018). "Cupressus austrotibetica". The Gymnosperm Database. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
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