New tree found in Vietnam
Copyright 2001 BBC
November 25, 2001
By Alex Kirby
BBC News Online environment correspondent
An international team of scientists has found a new conifer in the forests of northern Vietnam.
The tree, a new species in a new genus, has been named the Golden Vietnamese cypress.
Its discoverers say it is a missing link between true and false cypresses.
But although it is new to science, the tree is already critically endangered, and only a few individuals exist.
The team that discovered the tree included scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK; the Vietnamese Institute of Terrestrial Ecology in Hanoi; the Komarov Botanical Institute in St Petersburg, Russia; and the Missouri Botanical Garden, US.
They were in the area to study the orchids of the karst mountains of northern Vietnam.
Waiting for certainty
The new cypress is a small tree with unusual foliage - the mature trees carry both needle leaves and a scale-like form, which are usually found only in juvenile individuals.
The scientists made their discovery in October 1999, but waited till now to confirm it.
Kew's conifer specialist, Aljos Farjon, told BBC News Online: "I was shown some slides of what they'd found, and I have to admit that at first I dismissed the possibility that it could be anything new.
"Then I saw a specimen. But I decided I needed to see another before I could make up my mind.