To document Fitzroya, the "redwood of the south" and the 'National Tree' of Chile, was another exciting task for our expedition in 1996. It was a real treat to work in the magnificent Araucaria forests – huge stands, many old trees, and incredibly beautiful scenery on the foothills of Volcán Llaima.

In an article on our findings in Mexico we published this remarkable plant as Pseudotsuga menziesii var. oaxacana Debreczy & Rácz (Phytologia, 1995) but to accommodate this plant in the current understanding of the Douglas fir taxonomy, finally discussed it in Conifers Around the World within the long accepted variety name "var. glauca".

This plant was described in 1910 by Michel Gandoger in the bulletin of the French Botanical Society at species rank. It took over half a century when it was reclassified as a subspecies of Juniperus oxycedrus (Amaral Franco, 1963) and later treated at variety rank under the same species (John Silba, 1984).

Documenting this species requires to hike Vietnam's tallest mountain peak, Fan Si Pan, sometimes spelled as Fansipan or Fan Xi Pan (3143 m), part of the Hoang Lien Son (range). In December 2003, this was made possible with financial help from I.D.R.I. and the guidance of Dr. Dzuong Duc Huyen, country officer of the Prosea (Plant Resources of Southeast Asia) Project, and deputy head of the Botanical Department of the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources (Hanoi).