Cathaya is a genus in family Pinaceae and has one known, living species, Cathaya argyrophylla. A second species, C. nanchuanensis, is now treated as a synonym, as it does not differ from C. argyrophylla in any characters. Cathaya is a member of the subfamily Laricoideae, most closely related to Pseudotsuga and Larix.

Cathaya is confined to a limited area in southern China, in the provinces of Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan and southeast Sichuan. It is found on steep, narrow mountain slopes at 950 to 1800 meters altitude, on limestone soils. A larger population has been reduced by over-cutting.

The needles have ciliate (hairy) tips when young and grow around stems in a spiral pattern.

One or two botanists, unhappy with the idea of a new genus in such a familiar family, tried to shoehorn it into other existing genera, as Pseudotsuga argyrophylla and Tsuga argyrophylla. It is however very distinct from both of these genera, and these combinations are not now used.

Links to other Pinaceae

Pinus - Picea - Cathaya - Larix - Pseudotsuga - Abies - Cedrus - Keteleeria - Pseudolarix - Nothotsuga - Tsuga