Forestry workers have discovered a huge wild population of Taxus mairei in a mountainous area in east China's Jiangxi Province.

Taxus mairei is an ancient plant species with a history of 2.5 million years on earth. It is under first-class state protection in China.

The wild population of Taxus mairei is in a primitive state, with a total of more than 3,000 trees, some of which are over 1,200 years old, said Zhong Xin, head of the National Wild Plant Germplasm Resource Center for Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden.

There are at least seven species and the largest tree is about 3 meters in circumference, Zhong said.

Wen Ju, deputy director of the ecological public welfare forest farm in Huichang County, Jiangxi Province, who discovered the wild population of Taxus mairei, said the species is mainly distributed locally in deep mountainous areas, with abundant water resources and dense vegetation.

The local altitude, soil properties and air humidity are suitable for the growth of Taxus mairei, Wen added.

He said the local government has dispatched rangers to patrol the area several times a day, and mobilized the public to jointly protect the species.