Podocarpus

Common Names

Yellowwood, brown or black pine.

Taxonomic notes

Syn: Podocarpus Labillardière 1806 (Stevenson 1991).

Podocarpus is a exceptionally large genus, here treated in 105 species, per Farjon (1998). The genus has previously been visited in some depth by Buchholz and Gray (Gray 1956, Gray 1958) and in earlier work by de Laubenfels (1969). The genus has been subdivided by de Laubenfels (1985) as follows:

Section	Species
Subgenus Podocarpus
Podocarpus	P. elongatus, P. latifolius
Scytopodium	P. capuronii, P. henkelii, P. humbertii, P. madagascariensis, P. rostratus
Australis	P. alpinus, P. cunninghamii, P. gnidioides, P. lawrencii, P. nivalis, P. nubigenus, P. totara
Crassiformis	P. smithii
Capitulatis	P. glomeratus, P. lambertii, P. parlatorei, P. salignus, P. sellowii, P. sprucei, P. transiens
Pratensis	P. oleifolius, P. pendulifolius, P. tepuiensis
Lanceolatis	P. coriaceus, P. matudai, P. rusbyi, P. salicifolius, P. steyermarkii
Pumilis	P. angustifolius, P. aristulatis, P. buchholzii, P. roraimae, P. urbanii
Nemoralis	P. brasiliensis, P. celatus, P. guatemalensis, P. magnifolius, P. purdieanus, P. trinitensis
Subgenus Foliolatus
Foliolatus	P. archboldii, P. borneensis, P. deflexus, P. insularis, P. levis, P. neriifolius, P. novae-caledoniae, P. pallidus, P. rubens, P. spathoides
Acuminatus	P. dispermus, P. ledermannii, P. micropedunculatis
Globulus	P. annamiensis, P. globulus, P. lucienii, P. nakai, P. sylvestris, P. teysmannii
Longifoliolatus	P. atjehensis, P. bracteatus, P. confertus, P. decumbens, P. degeneri, P. gibbsii, P. longifoliolatus, P. polyspermus, P. pseudobracteatus, P. salomoniensis
Gracilis	P. affinis, P. glaucus, P. lophatus, P. pilgeri, P. rotundus
Macrostachyus	P. brassii, P. brevifolius, P. costalis, P. crassigemmis, P. tixieri
Rumphius	P. grayii, P. laubenfelsii, P. rumphii
Polystachyus	P. chinensis, P. chingianus, P. elatus, P. fasciculus, P. macrocarpus, P. macrophyllus, P. polystachyus, P. ridleyi, P. subtropicalis
Spinulosus	P. drouynianus, P. spinulosus

Keys to the species are provided by de Laubenfels (1985).

Description

"Evergreen shrubs or trees to 40 m. Leaves alternate, linear to ovate, usually with a single midvein and rarely with parallel veins. Plants dioecious, strobili axillary. Microsporangiate strobili cylindrical, solitary ans sessile or clustered on short sessile or long-pedunculate branches. Ovule-bearing structures axillary with naked peduncle; receptacle naked or composed of two or a multiple of two bracts; ovule solitary, inverted, terminal and enclosed by an epimatium except at micropyle. Mature seed green to purple with outer fleshy to coriaceous layer, middle stony layer, and inner papyraceous layer" (Stevenson 1991).

Range

"Subgenus Podocarpus is associated with the antarctic forests of Tasmania, New Zealand, and Chile and extends into the tropical highlands of Africa and America, rarely penetrating into tropical lowlands. Two endemic highland species extend the range of this subgenus a short way into the Pacific tropics in northeastern Australia and New Caledonia where there is a slight geographic overlap with the other subgenus. Subgenus Foliolatus, on the other hand, is concentratedin the Asian and Pacific tropics and is by no means restricted to highland areas. Several of its species occur in subtropical parts of eastern Asia and of Australia" (de Laubenfels 1985).

The podocarps generally do not form extensive stands, instead occurring as individual forest trees (Stevenson 1991).

The Sections are distributed as follows (de Laubenfels 1985):

Acuminatus	Australia: N Queensland; New Guinea; New Britain; NW Borneo
Australis	SE Australia; New Zealand; New Caledonia; S Chile
Capitulatis	SC Chile; S Brazil; the Andean highlands from N Argentina to Ecuador.
Crassiformis	Australia: NE Queensland
Foliolatus	Nepal to Sumatra; Philippines; New Guinea to Tonga
Globulus	Vietnam and Taiwan to Sumatra and Borneo; New Caledonia
Gracilis	S China across Malesia to Fiji, excepting SW Indonesia
Lanceolatis	From E and C Mexico through the Lesser Antilles and Venezuela to highland Bolivia
Longifoliolatus	Sumatra and Borneo, across Malesia to Fiji
Macrostachyus	Thailand-Cambodia coastal mountains, islands S of Taiwan, Mt. Kinabalu, and interior New Guinea
Nemoralis	Belize to Trinidad; the Planalto of Brazil to Bolivia
Podocarpus	E to S Africa
Polystachyus	S China and Japan through Malaya to W New Guinea and NE Australia
Pratensis	S from SE Mexico to Guyana and Peru
Pumilis	Greater Antilles (except Puerto Rico) and the Guyana Highlands
Rumphius	From Malaya and China: Hainan through Malesia (except Sumatra) to Australia: N Queensland
Scytopodium	Madagascar; Tanganyika; E South Africa
Spinulosus	SE and SW coastal Australia

Big Tree

The totara, Podocarpus totara.

Oldest

A ring count on an unspecified South African species (probably P. latifolius or maybe Afrocarpus falcatus), 700 years (Palmer and Pitman 1972).

Dendrochronology

Ethnobotany

In reference to South African species (P. elongatus, P. henkelii, P. latifolius and Afrocarpus falcatus): "Yellowwoods played a very important role in the early life of the colony for their timber was the most generally useful of any found in the country. Although the wood does not weather well and has never, therefore, been much used for exterior doors and windows, it was once popular for indoor work, for ceilings and floors, and for furniture. Its fine yellow colour is now much admired. It did not, however, suit 19th century taste and during this period it was frequently painted. Today the wood is often used to make butchers' blocks because it is hard, without scent, and does not chip easily. Coffins were once often made of it, and sometimes still are. On account of their usefulness, yellowwoods have been some of our most heavily exploited trees" (Palmer and Pitman 1972).

Observations

Remarks

"Podocarpus is derived from two Greek words pous= foot, and karpos= fruit, referring to the fleshy fruit stems" (ANBG [no date]).

In reference to South African species: "Seed is dispersed largely by birds. Among these are the brilliantly plumed Loerie of the forests and the Rameron Pigeon that scatter the seed of many kinds of trees and so play a vital part in the life of the forests. Yellowwoods largely control the distribution of a particularly interesting species of bird, the Cape parrot, Poisephalus robustus, in the eastern districts. These birds normally roost and nest in the highest mountain forests of the south east Cape, from where they visit the surrounding country in search of food, principally the kernels of the nuts of the yellowwood fruits" (Palmer and Pitman 1972).

See Also