Phoebe Nan


Phoebe Nan or  Phoebe zhennan S. Lee , also called 楠木(Nanmu )in Chinese,  is a large evergreen tree in the subtropical camphor family. It is a state-level second-level protected species in China. It is a valuable timber species endemic to China and South Asia.
 
Phoebe Nan, is one of the rare species trees in Zhangjiajie. There are 16 species  of  Phoebe Nan in Zhangjiajie. Among them, fragrant Phoebe Nanmu  is the most precious.
There is also a strange Phoebe tree in Zhangjiajie. One year, Liu Kailin, the head of the Zhangjiajie forest farm, cut a Phoebe tree and sawed it into a board to make a box. However, he found that the board had mane strange grain patterns which looked like mountain,rivers,grass,flowers, the moon, the sun. There are birds flying  and beasts running on it .  These pictographic patterns are formed because of the long-term effects of the surrounding environment, so this kind of trees  are called " Flowers  Phoebe ".
 
In the Han Dynasty (618B.C-220),  the Phoebe Nan in Zhangjiajie were conquered by the court of the dynasty. And it  twas designated as a tribute in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). During the period of Emperor (1515-1520) Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty,   the King Tuisi  from Qin's Maogang Tusi once  paid tribute to the court for more than 400 roots of big Phoebe wood  so as to built a palace that was destroyed by fire. Therefore, the  Tusi Qin was promoted by the emperor.

Visitors can easily see Phoebe Nan Trees while you travel in Suoxiyu Natural Reserve Zone and Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. Especially, in the Golden Whip Stream, there is a place called "Nan Mu Ping"楠木坪 where is densely growing Phoebe Trees.

 
Phoebe zhennan S. Lee

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