Amentotaxus argotaenia seed
LATIN NAME: Amentotaxus argotaenia
COMMON NAME: Amentotaxus
In the deep, moist ravines of the warm hill forests of the eastern Asia grows a conifer that few people ever meet in the wild. The amentotaxus is a small, slow, evergreen tree or large shrub, reaching up to ten metres or so, with the fine, flat, leathery leaves that spread out in a neat, feathery pattern along the branchlets, each leaf with a pale band of the pores on its underside. It carries its small, separate male and female cones in the spring, and the female trees ripen a small, olive-like fruit with a thin, fleshy coat over the single seed. It is a rare and much-reduced tree of the wild, and it is known as the amentotaxus.
The amentotaxus belongs to the yew family, Taxaceae, and it is a small, slow, evergreen tree of the deep, moist ravines of the eastern Asia. Its fine, flat, leathery leaves and its small, olive-like fruits set it apart among the conifers. It is a rare tree of the wild, and it is treasured for its fine, feathery foliage and its great age.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
Most of the interest in this tree has come from its rarity. The amentotaxus has been written about in the botanical and conservation papers, since the wild populations are small, scattered and much reduced, and the tree has been studied for its place in the moist hill forests of the region. Its distribution, its slow growth and its family relationships have all been mapped, and the tree has been a subject of the conservation study. Its fine, flat, leathery leaves have also been of interest in the botany, and the tree has been looked at as a rare and treasured conifer of the garden. With such a small and fragile wild population behind it, the amentotaxus has earned a serious and careful place in the record of study.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
In the wild the amentotaxus is a tree to protect. Its small, olive-like fruits feed the forest birds, and its fine, feathery foliage gives a rare, elegant presence in the moist ravine, while its slow growth and its great age make it a treasure of the old forest. The native trees are rare and much reduced, and they are best left to their deep, moist ravines. In the garden the amentotaxus is grown as a rare and elegant conifer, treasured for its fine, flat, leathery leaves and its slow, patient ways. In the cool, moist garden the amentotaxus is a fine, special tree for anyone who wants something truly uncommon. These seeds are best sown fresh — clean the small seeds off the olive-like fruits and sow them straight away at a shallow depth in pots of rich, moist, free-draining soil, keep the pots in a sheltered, half-shaded spot and never let them dry out, and the first shoots will come up in their own good time.
Rare plants
Uses: medicinal.Ornamental