Vietnam is a long, roughly S-shaped country in Indochina and falling within the tropics, enjoys both tropical and subtropical climates. Most of Vietnam’s over 12,000 species of plants cannot tolerate frost and are therefore unsuited for growing here in Washington. However, in the northwest of Vietnam, lies the Hoang Lien mountain range, which peaks at 10,326’ on the summit of Fansipan. The tallest mountain in Indochina, Fansipan is frequently dusted with snow and below the snowline lives a temperate forest containing many frost-hardy species including oaks, conifers, rhododendrons, maples, and magnolias. 

Photos 1 - 5: Hydrangea heteromalla, Magnolia sapaensis, Rhododendron emarginatum, Rhododendron lyi, Sorbus subulata.

The forests at the top of Fansipan and some of its adjacent mountains are effectively little islands, isolated from other temperate forests further to the north in China. Many of the species that grow there are unique and their area of occupancy is small – the higher you climb a mountain, the smaller its surface area gets. These special forests and the plants that they contain are at risk from several threats. As average temperatures increase due to climate change, the temperate zone is beginning to shrink and tropical species from lower on the mountain can move up and colonize. The arrival of a cable car at the peak of Fansipan brings more tourists to the mountain and they need facilities such as restrooms. Farmers in the region cut down trees on the mountain to grow valuable spices such as cardamom, which provide important foreign currency once exported. Deforestation also increases the spread of invasive plant and pest species. Plants only found on Vietnam’s northern mountains, such as Magnolia sapaensis, are at great risk of extinction.

The Fansipan area hosts over 2,000 plant species with around 18% fully restricted to the region (i.e. endemic). Fansipan fir (Abies fansipanensis) occurs on Fansipan and two adjacent peaks in a narrow zone between 8,500’ to 9,000’ altitude. There are only 200-400 mature individuals left, and they loom large on the horizon, standing tall above the canopy of maple, mountain ash, and bamboo. Recruitment is limited, with seedlings failing to thrive under the bamboos. This critically endangered conifer is just one of the rare plants on the Vietnamese mountains in need of conservation.