Callitropsis vietnamensis, commonly known as the Vietnamese Golden Cypress, is a coniferous tree in the cypress family

Cupressaceae

The Cupressaceae or cypress family is a conifer family with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27 to 30 genera , which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130-140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdioecious or dioecious trees and shrubs from 1-116 m tall...

.

Distribution

Callitropsis vietnamensis is endemic to Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

, being native only to the karst limestone mountains of the Ha Giang Province

Hà Giang Province

Hà Giang is a province in northeastern Vietnam. It is located in the far north of the country, and contains Vietnam’s northernmost point. It shares a 270 km long border with Yunnan province of southern China. Hence it is known as the final frontier of Vietnam...

 in northern Vietnam.

Taxonomy

It was first discovered by western scientists only in October 1999 and was shortly thereafter described as a new genus and species, namely Xanthocyparis vietnamensis, closely related to Nootka Cypress (Callitropsis nootkatensis)

Callitropsis nootkatensis

Nootka Cypress , formerly Cupressus nootkatensis, Xanthocyparis nootkatensis or Chamaecyparis nootkatensis, is a cypress with a chequered taxonomic and nomenclatural history. This species goes by many common names including Nootka Cypress, Yellow Cypress, and Alaska Cypress...

, which was also transferred to this new genus (Farjon et al. 2002). Subsequently, Little et al. (2004) pointed out that an earlier genus name Callitropsis had been given to Nootka Cypress, so they transferred the Vietnamese Golden Cypress to this genus.

Conservation

Callitropsis vietnamensis is designated as a Critically endangered species, as only 560 individuals are known to exist, on only 10 km² of habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

.