China fir = Cunninghamia

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Used as a  ‘fancy’ Christmas tree in Brasil, the  "Cunninghamia lanceolata” fir, designated also as "China fir", was discovered during the eighteen hundreds in China, by the English botanist J. CUNNINGHAM, hence the incorporation of “SIMENSIS" (coming from China) into its scientific name.  In some aspects it resembles the North American "Douglas Fir".
Cunninghamia      -      ( Out  of   :  Catalogue of Conifers )

The genus Cunninghamia characteristics.  A genus of two species. Evergreen trees. Leaves flat, spirally arranged and persistent up to five years. Staminate strobili terminal and umbellate.   Ovulate cones globular, Scales persistent, three seeds to each scale.

Chinese Fir

Native to Central and Southern China where it grows to a height of 150 feet.
The timber is esteemed in China as being the most useful, after bairiboo, for all kinds of woodwork. Introduced into U.S.A.  in 1804, it is hardy only in the milder districts and even   there requires a sunny, sheltered position.

Cunninghamia lanceolata

BOTANICAL NAME: Cunninghamia lanceolata COMMON NAME: Common Chinafir
FAMILY: Taxodiaceae NATIVITY: China
GROWTH HABIT:     SIZE: 30-75' tall. 

This information is made available through a joint effort of the Departments of Food and  Resource Economics and Plant and Soil Sciences College of Agricultural Sciences University  of Delaware


( Out of   RAINCOAST  BOOKS - VANCOUVER )    BOTANICA => ISBN  1551922177

CUNNINGHAMIA  =  CHINESE CEDAR ,  CHINA FIR

  This unusual conifer genus is native to China. The stiff, springy, curved leaves   taper to prickly points and have glossy upper surfaces. Dead leaves remain attached to the  branches, making the interior of the trees untidy and prickly, but a well grown specimen is  among the more attractive conifers.   Although quite handsome and not difficult to grow, CUNNINGHAMIA species are found mostly in botanical gardens and larger private collections.

CULTIVATION :    Fully frost hardy, they require adequate rainfall and deep, fertile soil.   Propagation is normally from seed, though seed set may be poor, or from cuttings.
            In São Paulo, Brasil, instead of seeds, tiny seedlings are collected, from OLDEST China fir stands, transplanted to trays, and kept during 1 year-period in a greenhouse, prior to being  transplanted to the fields.

CUNNINGHAMIA LANCEOLATA: COFFIN PINE, COFFIN FIR, CHINA FIR

      In China, where it once had an extensive natural distribution, this tree provided a valued  timber for coffins(it was thought that the aromatic timber prevented bodies from decomposing),   resulting in its over exploitation. Trees of 150 ft (45  meters) tall were recorded there, but in parks and gardens elsewhere it is mainly seen as a tree of 20-40 ft (6-12  meters), some times multi-trunked and widest at the top, sometimes narrower with a single, straight trunk and scattered clumps of lateral branches. The growth rate is likewise unpredictable, and it may remain shrubby for many years.

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