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Japanese umbrella-pine family🌲
Sciadopityaceae
コウヤマキ科
A monotypic family endemic to Japan, consisting of a single species (Sciadopitys verticillata, Japanese umbrella pine). Fossil records extend back to the Cretaceous, indicating a formerly wider distribution. The whorled 'leaves' are actually cladodes (fused short shoots) rather than true leaves.
Key Characteristics
- ●Whorled cladodes (pseudo-leaves) formed by fusion of two leaves
- ●Cones are woody with relatively few scales
- ●Bark reddish-brown, peeling vertically
- ●Endemic to Japan (single genus and species: Sciadopitys verticillata)
Morphological Traits
A family may include species with different trait values — multiple values indicate the range within the family.
Leaf arrangement
Whorled
Leaf type
Simple
Venation
Parallel
Leaf margin
Entire
Leaf shape
Needle / Linear
Growth form
Tree
Evergreen/Deciduous
Evergreen
Stipules
Absent
Petal fusion
No petals
Ovary position
Superior
Plant sex
Monoecious
Phylogenetic Position
Gymnosperms > Conifers > Pinales > Sciadopityaceae
Divergence Era
Mesozoic Cretaceous (approx. 140 million years ago onward)
Representative Genera
Related Evolution Events
- ・A relictual lineage that was widely distributed across the Northern Hemisphere from the Cretaceous to Tertiary, now disjunctly surviving only in Japan
- ・Evolution of a unique organ morphology: cladodes formed by fusion of short shoots
Plants in Japanese umbrella-pine family on this site
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