Callitropsis vietnamensis

Callitropsis vietnamensis, commonly known as the Vietnamese Golden Cypress, is a coniferous tree in the cypress family. It is native only to the Ha Giang Province in northern Vietnam. 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, 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.

References

• Database entry includes justification for why this species is critically endangered
• Farjon, A., Hiep, N. T., Harder, D. K., Loc, P. K., & Averyanov, L. 2002. A new genus and species in the Cupressaceae (Coniferales) from northern Vietnam, Xanthocyparis vietnamensis. Novon 12: 179–189.
• Little, D. P., Schwarzbach, A. E., Adams, R. P. & Hsieh, Chang-Fu. 2004. The circumscription and phylogenetic relationships of Callitropsis and the newly described genus Xanthocyparis (Cupressaceae). American Journal of Botany 91 (11): 1872–1881. Abstract