Platycladus orientalis
Biota; Chinese Arbor-vitae; Eastern Arbor-vitae; Oriental Arbor-vitae
Other names
| International recognized trade name (ATIBT) | ||
| Deutsch | Morgenländischer Lebensbaum; Orientalischer Lebensbaum | |
| English | Biota; Chinese Arbor-vitae; Eastern Arbor-vitae; Oriental Arbor-vitae; | |
| Français | thuya d'Orient; thuya de Chine; | |
| Italiano | Albero della vita; Tuia orientale | |
| Suomi | Morgenländischer Lebensbaum; Orientalischer Lebensbaum | |
| Norsk | Morgenländischer Lebensbaum; Orientalischer Lebensbaum | |
| Čeština | túje východní (tuje vychodni) [Czech]; zeravec východní (zeravec vychodni) [Czech] | |
| Español | árbol de la vida; árbol de la vida chino | |
| Svenska | Morgenländischer Lebensbaum; Orientalischer Lebensbaum | |
| Polski | Morgenländischer Lebensbaum; Orientalischer Lebensbaum | |
| Український | Morgenländischer Lebensbaum; Orientalischer Lebensbaum | |
| Român | Morgenländischer Lebensbaum; Orientalischer Lebensbaum | |
| Русский | биота восточная (biota vostochnaya) (biota vostocnaa (biota vostochnaya)); туя восточная (tuya vostochnaya) (tua vostocnaa (tuya vostochnaya)) | |
| Български | Morgenländischer Lebensbaum; Orientalischer Lebensbaum | |
| EESTI | Morgenländischer Lebensbaum; Orientalischer Lebensbaum | |
| 日本語 | Morgenländischer Lebensbaum; Orientalischer Lebensbaum | |
| 中文 | 侧柏 (ce bai) (ce bai (ce bai)) | |
| Other names | Keletfa [Hungarian];Oosterse levensboom [Dutch]; obicna azijska tuja; tuja východná (tuja vychodna) [Slovak]; 축백남우 (chuk paek namu) (chugbaegnam-u (chuk paek namu)) |
Origin
| States and Territories | China: S Gansu, Hebei, Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Nei Mongol [Inner Mongolia]; Korea; Russian Far East. This is possibly the most widely introduced cupressaceous conifer in Asia. In many areas inside and outside China it has 'escaped' from cultivation and established spontaneous populations. It is therefore very difficult to establish its natural range but this conifer is likely to be native only in parts of the above listed provinces and in a restricted area in Korea and adjacent Russia. Rehder (1923) mentioned Gansu, Hubei, Sichuan, Manchuria and Korea as the regions where it is indigenous and considered that "in other parts of China as in Formosa [Taiwan] and Japan [it is] probably planted." This is contrasted by Wilson's (1926) and Handel-Mazzetti's (1927) account of occurrences in NW Yunnan and SW Sichuan where they mention (collections of) the species from the deep valleys of the Jinsha (Yangtse), Lancang (Mekong) and Nu (Salween) Rivers. While in his account Handel-Mazzetti is quite certain of its natural occurrence there, Wilson is the more critical observer and states about the ecology of this conifer: "exact habitat unknown; long cultivated and escaped" and "In my own travels through the Orient I never saw a spontaneous example." He also observed that "this tree is a favorite with Taoists, Buddhist and Confucian priests which accounts for its wide spread cultivation." The photograph by Handel-Mazzetti (1927) in Karsten & Schenck's series 'Vegetationsbilder' shows young trees in a narrow valley that grew there most likely spontaneously but this does not mean that they are indigenous there. In NE Yunnan, I observed that this tree is very popular with the local Buddhist rites as fresh boughs are sold to worshipers at shrines and temples. These are taken from numerous small shrubs and trees growing on otherwise virtually deforested slopes nearby; the only other trees I saw among them were some pines (Pinus densata), a pioneer species. Where Platycladus orientalis is abundant, monasteries and temples are never far away. A few copses of older and unpruned trees were seen near villages in a tributary valley of the Jinsha (Yangtse) River. Nowhere in NW Yunnan was this tree seen by me in mature natural forest; this situation is presumably similar in other regions. Naturalized populations occur in the Elburz Mountains of NE Iran (Riedl, 1968) and possibly elsewhere. In Kirgyzstan I found it to be the most widely planted conifer in cities and large villages; it is also widely cultivated in the mountainous parts of India (Sahni, 1990). None of these occurrences are indigenous. The fossil record has not yielded evidence to indicate a past natural distribution wider than at present.; Russian Far East; Amur; Khabarovsk; China; Nei Mongol; Gansu; Hebei; Shaanxi; Shanxi; Henan; Eastern Asia; North Korea; South Korea | |||
Botany
| Reich | Plantae | |||
| Tribe | Tracheophyta | |||
| Gymnosperm | Gymnosperm | |||
| Class | Pinopsida | |||
| Order | Pinales | |||
| Family | Cupressaceae | |||
| Genus | Platycladus | |||
| Species | orientalis | |||
| Author citation | (L.) Franco | |||
| Scientific name | Platycladus orientalis (L.) Franco | |||
Habitus
| Wood type | Softwood | |||
Natural durability
(according to EN 350)
| Mushrooms field | DC | |||
Appearances
Wood
Platycladus orientalis , ©Dennis Wilson
Bark
, Bark , ©Dennis Wilson
Leaves
, Leaves , ©Dennis Wilson
Branch
, Branch , ©Dennis Wilson
Cones
, Cones , ©Dennis Wilson
, Cones , ©Michael P. Frankis
Fruit
, Fruit , ©Dennis Wilson