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China: SW Sichuan and NW Yunnan, in the deep gorges of the Jinsha (Yangtse), Langcang (Mekong) and Nu (Salween) Rivers, also along some western tributaries of the Yalong River in S Sichuan. Its extent upstream into Xizang (Tibet) is not known. When I visited the extreme NW corner of Yunnan in 2000 I encountered an ancient stand NW of Dêqên near the border, but my Chinese guides did not allow me to enter that region and no collections from there referable to this species have come to my attention. It probably does not naturally extend far downstream along these big rivers either. All other references to localities in Yunnan are based on introduced trees. The Abbé Delavay understood this well; he notes with his coll. No. 6805: "grande arbre cultivé partout aux environs d'Yunnan-sen." It apparently has established itself successfully in the Western Hills S of Kunming and probably elsewhere in the dry hills of central Yunnan, but that is well outside its natural range. The habitat of its new home, with its mild 'spring' climate and warm sunshine, is probably quite similar to that which prevails in the lower reaches of the deep river gorges. There I presume that it had retreated during the Pleistocene when the intervening high country became clothed in spruces, firs and larches, alpine tundra or even snow and ice. With man's help (Cupressaceous trees have been transported all over China and beyond for centuries) the species got out of the gorges and onto the presently mild plains and hills near Lijiang, Dali, and Kunming.; Kina; Sichuan; Yunnan
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