Tam Dao National Park - Flora

Flora

According to research, Tam Dao park has eight kinds of forest types distributed in different topographic and climatic areas :

• The Tropical Moist Evergreen Forest covers most of Tam Dao Range below the altitude of 800 m. Some rare and precious species include Shorea chinensis, Michelia, Cinnamomum sp. and Pavviesia annamensis.
• The Subtropical Moist Evergreen Low Mountain Forest covers the areas over 800 m and includes the species of the families: Lauraceae, Fagaceae, Theaceae, Magroliaceae, and Hamamelidaceae. In places with altitudes of over 1000 m there are some species of conifer such as Dacrycarpus imbrricatus, Fokieria hodginsii, Podocarpus neriifolicy, and Nageia fleuryi. Below the canopy there are species of coffee family (Rubiaceae), Myrsinaceae family or Euphorbiaceae family.
• The High Mountain Short Forest is a dwarf variety of two aforementioned forest types including species of these families: Ercaceae, Lauraceae, Fagaceae, Illiciaceae, and Aceraceae.
• The Bamboo Forest only covers 8.84 km2 and sparsely appears at altitudes of 500 m to 800 m.
• The Restored Forest was created after the establishment the national park. Before that, this area was exploited to harvest wood by forest management and was cultivated by farmers. Now this area has been replanted with species such as Symplocos, Litsea cubeba, and a species of Xylopia.
• The Plantation Forest was established in the French colonial period with Pinus massoniana (Horsetail Pine).
• The Bush appears in some dry and sun exposed areas including Aporosa dioica, Bridelia tomentosa, species of Helicteres, and Phyllanthus embrica.
• The Grass Land appears in areas of exploited forest, and includes Saccharum spontaneum, Thysamolema maxima, Chromolaena odorata (over 2 m) Imperata cylindrica, Paspalum scrobiculatum, and Setaria viridis (under 2 m) .

Out of over 2000 plant species, 904 species are considered useful to humans. They have been classified into eight groups:

There are 42 species endemic to Tam Dao National Park and also 64 other species considered rare including Dendrobium daoensis, Camellia longicaudata, Camellia petelotii, Asarum petelotii, Mosla tamdaoensis, and Paris delavayi.