province and south to Guangdong province , Taiwan and the north of Ha Giang province in northern Vietnam. In the very south of their range they are only found high in the mountains. For example, in Vietnam the tree is only found in mountains above sea level. In China it is present at altitudes of in the following provinces: Anhui, Fujian, southern Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, northern Guizhou, western Henan, western Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, southern Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan, and Zhejiang. This comprises the southern half of the country with a few population farther north. It is found primarily in mixed forests near river basins and in mountains and valleys. In Taiwan it is found mainly in Nantou County and Taoyuan City at heights of in mixed broadleaf forests. It can be found in Taiwans's Yushan National Park and Lalashan Preserve, as well as in China's Hailuogou Glacier Park in Sichuan province. Taxonomy There are a number of varieties of T. chinensis, though there is much dispute over which are valid and whether some constitute distinct species or not. All in all there are six varieties, though not all are accepted universally. These are: T. c. var. chinensis is the type variety and occurs across most of the range in mainland China and Tibet. Its seed scales are pentagonal-ovate, subsquare, or suborbicular, while its branchlets are in diameter and grey to yellow-grey in colour. The cones are ovoid and tall by wide. T. c. var. formosana is the variety that occurs exclusively in Taiwan. Aljos Farjon, a conifer expert from the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, considers this variety identical with the type, but according to Raven and Wu it differs from the type by having seed scales which are compressed orbicular to nearly semiorbicular. Otherwise, however, it is like the type. T. c. var. patens is found only in western Hubei province on Changyang Xian. It differs in having brownish yellow to brown branchlets, which are between to longer in diameter than the type. The seed cones also differ in being slightly larger, ovoid-globose in shape, and with seed scales that are smooth, shiny and almost square. This variety is recognized by Raven and Wu. T. c. var. forrestii is treated as a separate species, namely Tsuga forrestii, by some authorities. The cones are larger, more slender and narrow-ovoid to ovoid-cylindric. The branchlets are slightly thicker, while the seed scales