Keteleeria davidiana
Common Name(s):
- Phonetic Spelling
- ket-el-LEER-ee-ah duh-vid-ee-AN-uh
- Description
-
David's Keteleeria is a large, flowering, evergreen tree in the pine family native to China and Taiwan where it is found along mountain slopes or in woodlands growing in small groups or solitary. The tree has medium green needles, large branches, an upright or oval habit and, at maturity, can reach 100 feet high. The bark is rough and fissured.
Plant in full sun in sandy or loamy soils with good drainage. It will do best in a sheltered site away from cold winds for its first few years. This tree suffers in the shade and prefers heat and dry or slightly moist soils.
When it is young, the branches are covered with stiff hairs and it resembles Abies alba.
Diseases, Insect Pests, and Other Plant Problems:
No known diseases or insect pests.
- See this plant in the following landscape:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
-
- 'calcarea'
First-year branchlets yellow. - 'davidiana'
First-year branchlets yellow-gray or light-gray. - 'formosana'
Dark leaf scars protruding noticeably on branches.
- 'calcarea'
- 'calcarea', 'davidiana', 'formosana'
- Tags:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
-
- 'calcarea'
First-year branchlets yellow. - 'davidiana'
First-year branchlets yellow-gray or light-gray. - 'formosana'
Dark leaf scars protruding noticeably on branches.
- 'calcarea'
- 'calcarea', 'davidiana', 'formosana'
- Tags:
-
-
Attributes:
- Genus:
- Keteleeria
- Species:
- davidiana
- Family:
- Pinaceae
- Uses (Ethnobotany):
- The wood is close grained and easily worked for building purposes, furniture and wood fiber.
- Life Cycle:
- Woody
- Recommended Propagation Strategy:
- Seed
- Country Or Region Of Origin:
- Central and Southern China and Taiwan.
- Distribution:
- Northern Viet Nam.
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Whole Plant Traits:
- Plant Type:
- Tree
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Needled Evergreen
- Habit/Form:
- Erect
- Oval
- Growth Rate:
- Slow
- Maintenance:
- Medium
- Texture:
- Coarse
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Cultural Conditions:
- Light:
- Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
- Soil Texture:
- Loam (Silt)
- Sand
- Soil pH:
- Acid (<6.0)
- Alkaline (>8.0)
- Neutral (6.0-8.0)
- Soil Drainage:
- Good Drainage
- Moist
- Occasionally Dry
- USDA Plant Hardiness Zone:
- 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b
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-
Fruit:
- Fruit Color:
- Brown/Copper
- Display/Harvest Time:
- Fall
- Fruit Description:
- Seeds ripen in fall. Seed cones cylindrical. Heart-shaped seed scales at middle of cones.
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-
Flowers:
- Flower Inflorescence:
- Insignificant
- Flower Description:
- Flowers appear in March and are wind pollinated.
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-
Leaves:
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Needled Evergreen
- Leaf Color:
- Green
- Leaf Feel:
- Glossy
- Leaf Type:
- Needles
- Leaf Arrangement:
- Other/more complex
- Leaf Margin:
- Entire
- Hairs Present:
- No
- Leaf Length:
- 1-3 inches
- Leaf Description:
- Dark shiny green leaves, 2 1/2 inches long, ending keeled on both sides, entire, rounded at the apex. Leaves usually arranged like the teeth of a comb.
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Bark:
- Bark Color:
- Black
- Dark Brown
- Dark Gray
- Surface/Attachment:
- Fissured
- Scaly
- Bark Description:
- Dull brown to gray-black. Rough and longitudinally fissured, flaking.
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Stem:
- Stem Color:
- Brown/Copper
- Gray/Silver
- Stem Is Aromatic:
- No
- Stem Buds:
- Scaly
- Stem Surface:
- Hairy (pubescent)
- Stem Description:
- Buds are scaly and red in the spring. Stems are slender covered in stiff brown hairs, initially yellowish gray, yellow, or light gray, but turning gray or light brown in 2nd or 3rd year.
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-
Landscape:
- Landscape Location:
- Slope/Bank
- Woodland
- Landscape Theme:
- Asian Garden
- Design Feature:
- Shade Tree
- Small groups
- Specimen
- Resistance To Challenges:
- Dry Soil
- Heat
