Exhibit celebrates conifer identified a century ago

An exhibition featuring the only conifer named after Taiwan, Taiwania cryptomerioides, opened yesterday to mark the 100th anniversary of the tree's identification.

Scientists say the conifer species has existed for millions of years. It was first classified by Japanese botanist Nariaki Konishi in 1904.

In 1908 another Japanese professor, Hayata Bunzo, gave the tree its Latin nomenclature.

Taiwanese botanists requested in 2002 that the species, which represents a unique genus, be listed under UNESCO's Convention Concerning the Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage, but the application failed because Taiwan is not a UN member.

The largest forest of Taiwania cryptomerioides is located in the Twin Ghost Lake area of Taitung County, where more than 10,000 of these rare trees are spread over an area of some 1,300 hectares. The government designated the area a natural reserve in 2002.

As the tree grows at an altitude of between 1,800m and 2,500m in remote mountains, it was largely left alone by loggers during the Japanese occupation.

Numbers of the tree later declined, however, as a result of logging between the 1950s and 1970s, a trend exacerbated by poor regeneration.

In the 1970s, it became illegal to chop down the trees, which were often used for furniture because of their fine grain and pleasant smell.

With numbers of Taiwania cryptomerioides still recovering, the tree is listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources as a threatened species.