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Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook.

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Cunninghamia lanceolata' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/cunninghamia/cunninghamia-lanceolata/). Accessed 2024-11-09.

Synonyms

  • Pinus lanceolata Lamb.
  • Cunninghamia sinensis Rich.

Infraspecifics

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
lanceolate
Lance-shaped; broadest in middle tapering to point.
linear
Strap-shaped.
midrib
midveinCentral and principal vein in a leaf.
ovate
Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.

References

There are no active references in this article.

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Cunninghamia lanceolata' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/cunninghamia/cunninghamia-lanceolata/). Accessed 2024-11-09.

An evergreen tree up to 150 ft high in a wild state, and up to two-thirds as high in Britain, with a scaling bark; young wood hidden on the upper side by the bases of the densely packed leaves, pale green and glabrous beneath. Leaves persistent about five years, springing equally from all round the stem, but twisted at the stalkless base so as to come into two opposite, spreading, horizontal ranks; they are linear-lanceolate, 1 to 214 in. long, 112 to 316 in. wide; minutely toothed, tapered to a long, fine point; dark glossy bluish green above, with a broad stomatic band beneath along each side the midrib. Cones roundish, rather broader than long, about 112 in. wide; scales broadly ovate, with an abrupt, slender point, and irregularly toothed margins.

Native of China; introduced to Kew by William Kerr in 1804. In general appearance it bears considerable resemblance to the araucarias, especially to A. angustifolia. It represents one of the world’s most ancient types of vegetation, a very similar plant being found in a fossil state.

The trees mentioned in previous editions as the best in the early years of this century still exist. They are: Killerton, Devon, about 68 × 4 ft (1913), now 79 × 734 ft (1959); Bicton, Devon, 56 × 434 ft (1908), now 102 × 712 ft (1964); Pencarrow, Cornwall, pl. 1850, 40 × 434 ft (1908), now 79 × 812 ft (1957); Claremont, Surrey, pl. 1819, 36 ft (1913), now 52 × 614 ft (1965). Other trees of size are: Trebah, Cornwall, 80 × 714 ft (1959), and Longleat, Wilts., 76 × 614 ft (1963). C. lanceolata reaches its best dimensions in the rainier parts of the country, but it has grown well in the National Pinetum in Kent where a tree planted in 1925 is now 47 ft high (1963); at Benenden, in the same county, there is a specimen 59 ft high.

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

specimens: National Pinetum, Bedgebury, Kent, 59 × 512 ft (1980); Benenden House, Kent, 62 × 434 ft (1979); Claremont, Surrey, 64 × 634 ft (1979); Beechlands, Sussex, 50 × 5 ft in 1907, since cut back and 50 × 714 ft (1981); Sheffield Park, Sussex, 66 × 734 ft (1979); Longleat, Wilts., 82 × 614 ft (1971); Tottenham House, Wilts., 50 × 814 ft + 434 ft (1977); Killerton, Devon, 85 × 814 ft (1983); Bicton, Devon, 100 × 814 ft (1977); Escot, Devon, 80 × 814 ft (1982); Pencarrow, Cornwall, 82 × 834 ft (1975); Trebah, Cornwall, 85 × 734 ft (1984); Scorrier House, Cornwall, 56 × 512 ft (1979); Glendurgan, Cornwall, 64 × 814 ft (1984); Oakley Park, Shrops., 70 × 612 ft (1978); Powerscourt, Co. Wicklow, Eire, 36 × 4 ft in 1931, now 60 × 534 ft (1980); Mount Usher, Co. Wicklow, Eire, 67 × 812 ft and 67 × 712 ft (1975).


'Glauca'

Curiously omitted by Bean (1976) this brightly glaucous cultivar is said to have been known since 1855 (Auders & Spicer 2012), but details of its origins are elusive. Perhaps a clue is that it was originally published as C. [sinensis] var. glauca Knight & Perry (Krüssmann 1985), presumably linking it to the Knight and Perry Nursery in Kings Road, Chelsea. Ultimately having the habit of a normal tree it is said to start more compact and bushy, reluctant to form a leader (Auders & Spicer 2012), and these and other authors (e.g. Krüssmann 1985) also state that it is hardier than normal.

Although this is supposed to be a single cultivar, specimens with more than averagely glaucous foliage are also often seen among unselected C. lanceolata.