The tallest peak of the range is Xiuguluan Mountain, 3,860 m (12,664 ft).

[citation needed] During the Qing Dynasty, the range was known as the Ta-shan,[1] from the Wade-Giles romanization of the Chinese name Dàshān, meaning "Big Mountains".

The coastal plains and lower elevations are covered by evergreen laurel-Castanopsis forests dominated by Cryptocarya chinensis and Castanopsis hystrix with scattered stands of the subtropical pine Pinus massoniana.

At higher elevations, Cyclobalanopsis glauca replaces laurel and Castanopsis as the dominant tree.

[citation needed] Above 3,000 m (9,840 ft), deciduous broadleaf trees like Formosan alder (Alnus formosana) and maple (Acer spp.)