# Manual of the New Zealand Flora/Coniferæ

Order LXXVIII. CONIFERÆ.
Resinous trees or shrubs, almost always evergreen. Leaves opposite or whorled or alternate, solitary or fascicled within membranous sheaths, rigid, subulate or linear or scale-like, rarely broad and flat. Flowers monœcious or diœcious; males usually solitary, catkin-like, deciduous; females often cone-like. Perianth always wanting in both sexes. Male flowers reduced to the stamens only, which are usually numerous; filaments connate into an oblong or cylindrical central axis (staminal column); anthers placed around the axis, stipitate or sessile; cells 2 or more, either adnate to the back of the connective, or pendulous from its scale-like or peltate summit. Female flowers of one or more erect or reversed naked ovules, without ovary style or stigma, sessile on a scale (open carpellary leaf or carpidium) which is free or adnate to a bract; scales rarely solitary, usually several or many, in the latter case forming a cone or head. Fruit composed of the enlarged hardened or succulent scales or bracts, between which the seeds are hidden; or the mature seed may be exserted beyond the unchanged or fleshy scales or bracts. Seeds winged or wingless; testa thick or thin, membranous or crustaceous or fleshy; albumen copious, fleshy or farinaceous; embryo straight, axile, cotyledons 2 or more, radicle terete.
A large and important order, almost worldwide in its distribution, but most abundant in the temperate part of the Northern Hemisphere; rare in the tropics, except on high mountains; fairly well represented in the south temperate zone. Genera 33; species about 350. Many of the species yield valuable timber. Pines, firs, larches, cedars, cypresses in the Northern Hemisphere; the kauri, totara, rimu, Huon pine, &c., in the Southern, are well-known timber-trees, of great economic and commercial value. The mammoth tree of California (Sequoia gigantea) is probably the largest known tree. One has been measured 400 ft. high, with a trunk 116 ft. in circumference. The resinous products of the order are also of great importance. The most valuable are tar, turpentine, pitch, and kauri-gum. The 5 genera found in New Zealand are all widely distributed in the Southern Hemisphere, and one of them (Podocarpus) advances as far north as China and Japan.
A. Female flowers cone-like. Seeds concealed by the overlapping scales of the cone. :
| Leaves large, flat, oblong. Cones large, 2–3 in, diam.; scales and seeds many | 1. Agathis. |
| Leaves small, scale-like. Cones small; scales 4–6; seeds 2–4 | 2. Libocedrus. |
| B. Female flowers not cone-like. Seed nut-like, exserted beyond the unchanged or enlarged and fleshy scales. ||
| Leaves small, linear and flat or scale-like. Peduncle of fruit, together with the bracts, usually fleshy and enlarged. Ovule reversed | 3. Podocarpus. ​ |
| Leaves usually dimorphic, of mature trees small and scale-like. Peduncle of fruit dry or fleshy. Ovule at first reversed but ultimately erect. Seed seated in a membranous or fleshy aril | 4. Dacrydium. |
| Branchlets expanded into broad and flat coriaceous leaf-like cladodes. True leaves reduced to minute scales. Ovule erect | 5. Phyllocladus. |
1. AGATHIS, Salisb.
Evergreen monœcious or diœcious trees, often of great size. Leaves subopposite or alternate, broad, flat, coriaceous; nerves parallel. Male flowers solitary, axillary, peduncled; peduncle furnished with imbricate scales at the top. Anthers densely spirally arranged on a cylindrical column; cells 5–15, pendulous from the top of a rigid stipes. Female cones terminating short branchlets, broadly ovoid or globose; scales densely spirally arranged, tips broad. Ovules solitary or rarely 2 at the base of each scale and adnate to it, reversed. Mature cone globose or nearly so; scales closely imbricating and appressed, broad, flattened, hard but scarcely woody. Seeds 1 to each scale, very rarely 2, reversed, compressed, ovate or oblong; testa thin, produced into a membranous wing; albumen fleshy; cotyledons 2.
A genus of 6 or 7 species of timber-trees, ranging through the Malay Archipelago, north-east Australia, the Pacific islands, and New Zealand. The New Zealand species is endemic, although stated by Parlatore (D.C. Prodr. xvi. 2, 376) and Eichler (Naturlichen Pflanzenfamilien ii. 1, 67) to occur in Australia.
1. A. australis, Salisb. in Trans. Linn. Soc. viii. (1807) 312.—A lofty forest-tree, with a straight columnar trunk and rounded somewhat bushy head, highly resiniferous in all its parts, usually ranging from 80 to 100 ft. high, with a trunk 4–10 ft. diam., but attaining an extreme height of 150 ft., with a trunk 15–22 ft. diam.; bark glaucous-grey, deciduous, falling off in large flat flakes. Leaves subopposite or alternate, sessile, very thick and coriaceous; of young trees lanceolate, 2–4 in. long, ¼–½ in. broad, gradually passing into those of mature trees, which are ¾–1½ in. long, linear-oblong or narrow obovate-oblong, obtuse. Flowers monoecious; males ¾–1½ in. long, cylindrical. Female cones obovoid in the flowering stage, becoming almost spherical when ripe, erect, 2–3 in. diam.; scales broad, flat, rather thin, falling away from the axis at maturity. Seeds 1 to each scale, ovate, compressed, winged.—Kirk, Forest Fl. tt. 79 to 81. Dammara australis, Lamb. Pin. ed. i. 2, 14; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 325; Raoul, Choix, 41; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 231; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 256. Podocarpus zamiæfolius, A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 360.
North Island: Abundant in forests from the North Cape to Tauranga and Kawhia. Sea-level to 2000 ft. Kauri, of the resin kapia.
​The kauri-pine, too well known to require any detailed account. Timber not excelled by any other for the variety of uses for which it is adapted, and remarkable for its strength, durability, and the ease with which it is worked. The resin, or "kauri-gum," so important for varnish-making, is still dug in large quantities on the sites of previous forests, or obtained from those still living.
2. LIBOCEDRUS, Endl.
Usually tall trees. Leaves opposite, small and scale-like, quadrifariously imbricate, either all equal and decussate, or flattened on the branchlets, the lateral larger and keeled, those on the upper and lower faces of the branchlets smaller and flat. Flowers monœcious or diœcious; males terminal, solitary, oblong or ovoid or almost globose, consisting of a staminal column sessile within the uppermost leaves and bearing several or many decussately placed anthers; connective scale-like, ovate, subpeltate; anther-cells usually 4, pendulous. Female cones oblong or ovoid, terminating short branchlets; scales 4 or 6, decussately opposite, the lowest pair smallest and sterile, the second pair with 2 erect collateral ovules at the base of each scale, the third pair when present sterile and connate. Scales of the mature cones persistent, gaping, indurated, mucronate or horned at the back towards the tip. Seeds solitary or rarely 2 at the base of each fertile scale, compressed, unequally winged.
A small genus of 9 species, with a very singular distribution, 1 being found in California, 2 in Chili, 2 in New Zealand, and 1 each in New Caledonia, New Guinea, China, and Japan.
| Branchlets of mature trees more or less compressed, not tetragonous. Cones ½ in. long | 1. L. Doniana. |
| Branchlets of mature trees always tetragonous. Cones ¼–⅓ in. long | 2. L. Bidwillii. |
1. L. Doniana, Endl. Syn. Conif. 43.—A tall forest-tree 30 to 70 ft. high or more, with a narrow tapering head; trunk 2–4 ft. diam.; bark stringy, falling off in long ribbons. Branchlets distichous; of young trees vertical, much flattened and compressed, ⅕–¼ in. broad; of old trees horizontal, less compressed, but not obviously tetragonous, 1/10–1/8 in. broad. Leaves quadrifarious, the lateral larger, especially on young trees, where they are often ⅕ in. long, sheathing and connate at the base, spreading, acute; those on the upper and lower faces of the branchlets 1/25–1/12 in. ong, triangular, appressed to the branch. Male flowers about ¼ in. long, hardly broader than the branch; anthers 8–12; connective thin, ovate, subpeltate. Female cones ovoid, about ½ in. long, woody; scales 4, spreading, each with a sharp curved spine at the back. Seeds 2 to each cone.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 256; Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 82. Thuya Doniana, Hook. in Lond. Journ. Bot. i. (1842) 571; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 231. Dacrydium plumosum, D. Don. in Lamb. Pin. ed. ii. App. 143; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 330.
North Island: In forests from Mongonui southwards to Hawke's Bay and Taranaki, but often rare and local. Sea-level to 2000 ft. Kawaka; New Zealand Arbor-vitæ.
Wood dark-red, beautifully grained, said to be durable, but on account of its scarcity little used. Very young seedlings have narrow linear-subulate leaves spreading on all sides, but these soon pass into the quadrifarious stage.
2. L. Bidwillii, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 257.—Very similar to L. Doniana, but usually smaller, seldom more than 50 ft. high, with a trunk 1½–3 ft. diam., in subalpine or cool peaty localities often reduced to a fastigiate bush or small tree 10–20 ft. high. Branchlets of young trees closely resembling those of L. Doniana, but rather narrower; of mature trees tetragonous, 1/15–1/12 in. diam., densely clothed with almost uniform triangular acute closely appressed leaves. Female cones like those of L. Doniana, but smaller, ¼–⅓ in. long.—Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 83.
North and South Islands: From Te Aroha Mountain and Mount Egmont southwards to Foveaux Strait, not uncommon in hilly or mountain forests. 800–4000 ft. Pahautea; Cedar.
Often confounded with the previous species, but the obviously tetragonous branchlets of the mature tree, with almost uniform leaves, are characteristic and readily distinguish it. Wood soft, red, straight in the grain, easily split, and apparently of great durability, but of low specific gravity and somewhat brittle.
3. PODOCARPUS, L'Herit.
Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate or opposite, scattered or imbricate or distichous, very diverse in size and shape. Flowers diœcious or rarely monœcious; males solitary or in fascicles of 2–5, or laxly spicate along an elongated rhachis, usually stipitate, the stipes furnished with imbricate bracts. Staminal column elongate, cylindric; anthers sessile, densely spirally crowded; cells 2, parallel, dehiscing longitudinally; connective usually prolonged into a short claw. Female flowers solitary or occasionally geminate, very rarely spicate; bracts or scales few, adnate with the rhachis into a swollen fleshy or succulent peduncle or "receptacle"; ovuliferous scale springing from the receptacle, ovoid, fleshy, bearing a single reversed ovule. Seeds globose or ovoid, seated on the enlarged receptacle, drupaceous or nut-like. Cotyledons 2.
About 60 species are known, scattered through the tropical and subtropical regions of the Old World, from Japan and China southwards to New Zealand and South Africa, also in most parts of South America; wanting in Europe, North America, North Africa, and western Asia. The New Zealand species are all endemic.
| A. Flowers axillary. |
| * Male flowers solitary or 2–4 at the tip of a common peduncle. |
| Tree 40–100 ft.; bark thick. Leaves ½–1 in., linear, rigid and coriaceous, pungent. Male flowers subsessile. Nut small, obtuse | 1. P. Totara. ​ |
| Tree 25–60 ft.; bark thin, papery. Leaves ¾–1½ in., linear, rigid and coriaceous, pungent. Male flowers evidently stalked. Nut acute | 2. P. Hallii. |
| Erect shrub 3–10 ft.; branches slender. Leaves lax, ⅓–1 in. long, narrow-linear, pungent, thin | 3. P. acutifolius. |
| Diffuse or prostrate shrub 2–8 ft.; branches stout. Leaves close-set, ¼–⅔ in., linear-oblong, obtuse, thick and coriaceous | 4. P. nivalis. |
| Tree 50–80 ft. Leaves distichous, ½–¾ in., linear, acute, falcate. Fruit large, broadly oblong, succulent, ¾ in. long | 5. P. ferrugineus. |
| ** Male flowers numerous, spiked. |
| Tree 40–80 ft. Leaves distichous, ⅓–½ in., linear, obtuse. Fruit globose, succulent, J-Jin. diam. | 6. P. spicatus. |
| B. Flowers terminating the branchlets. |
| Tree 80–120 ft. Leaves of young trees distichous, ¼ in.; of mature plants imbricate all round, 1/12–1/8 in., subulate-lanceolate, acuminate | 7. P. dacrydioides. |
1. P. Totara, D. Don. in Lamb. Pin. ed. ii. (1832) 189.—A lofty forest-tree 40–80 ft. or even 100 ft. high; trunk 2–6 ft. diam.; bark thick, furrowed, stringy and papery, capable of removal in large sheets. Leaves dull brownish-green, spreading on all sides or obscurely distichous, ½–1 in. long, linear, straight or slightly falcate, acute, pungent, rigid and coriaceous, midrib obscure. Flowers diœcious. Males ½–¾ in. long, stout, obtuse, axillary, solitary or 2–3 together at the top of a very short stout peduncle or almost sessile; each flower with 4 bracts at the base. Anthers numerous, crowded; connective toothed at the tip. Female flowers axillary, solitary or geminate at the top of a short swollen peduncle. Fruit ovoid-oblong, rounded at the tip; peduncle usually much enlarged, red, succulent; but occasionally dry and shrivelled.—A. Cunn. Precur. n. 328; Raoul, Choix, 41; Hook. in Lond. Journ. Bot. i. 572. t. 19; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 233; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 258; Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 115. Pilger, Pflanzenreich, iv. 5, 84. P. Bidwillii, Hoibrenk ex Endl. Conif. 213. P. Cunninghamii, Col. Visit to Ruahine Range, 58.
North and South Island: Common in forests from the North Cape to the south-east of Otago. Sea-level to 2000 ft. Totara.
A magnificent tree, scarcely less valuable than the kauri; but, unlike it, generally distributed throughout the colony. Wood red, straight-grained, compact, extremely durable, much used for all kinds of building purposes and constructive works. From its power of resisting the attacks of the teredo it is particularly valuable for the piles of wharves, &c. The huge war-canoes of the Maoris, which were often over 80 ft. in length, were carved from the trunks of totara-trees, and it was also the favourite timber for their carved houses.
2. P. Hallii, T. Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 9, 9a.—Very closely allied to P. Totara, and perhaps a mere variety, but smaller, 25–60 ft. high; trunk rarely exceeding 3ft. diam.; bark thin, papery; ​branches of young trees weak, slender. Leaves of young plants usually distichous, spreading, 1–1½ in. long, narrow linear-lanceolate; of mature trees inserted all round the branches, close-set, ¾–1 in. long, linear or linear-lanceolate, acute, pungent, rigid and coriaceous, midrib somewhat prominent beneath. Flowers dioecious. Male flowers as in P. Totara, but usually solitary and distinctly peduncled. Female flowers frequently geminate on the short peduncle. Fruit narrow-ovoid, pointed; peduncle usually enlarged and succulent.—P. Totara var. Hallii, Pilger, Pfianzenreich, iv. 5, 84.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: In forests from Kaitaia and Mongonui southwards, not uncommon. Sea-level to 3500 ft.
I am very doubtful as to this being more than a variety of P. Totara, which is the view held by Dr. Pilger. Young plants are easily distinguished by the weak and often flexuous branches and larger leaves; but it must be confessed that the mature foliage so closely resembles that of P. Totara that it is often difficult to separate the two plants by that character alone. The thin papery bark is, however, unmistakable. I fear that the shape of the fruit and the length of the peduncle of the male flower are subject to variation. The wood is similar to that of P. Totara, but is said to be inferior in durability. Mr. Kirk suggests that Colenso's P. Cunninghamii may be identical with P. Hallii; but the type specimen in Mr. Colenso's herbarium appears to be P. Totara.
3. P. acutifolius, T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi. (1884) 370, t. 26.—An erect much-branched shrub 3–10 ft. high; branches slender, erect. Leaves usually rather lax, spreading, ⅓–1 in. long, linear, straight, acuminate and pungent, sessile or nearly so, green, coriaceous; midrib indistinct; margins slightly recurved. Flowers diœcious. Males ⅓–½ in. long, solitary or in fascicles of 2–4 at the top of an erect peduncle about ½ in. long, each flower with 4 scarious acuminate bracts at its base, forming a quasi involucre at the top of the peduncle. Anthers numerous, closely packed; connective obtuse. Female flowers minute, axillary, solitary or very rarely geminate at the top of a short swollen peduncle. Fruit small, ovoid, seated on the enlarged and fleshy bright-red peduncle.—Forest Fl. t. 39; Pilger, Pflanzenreich, iv. 5, 84.
South Island: Marlborough—Rutland! Mount Duppa, Macmahon! Nelson—Lake Rotoiti and upper part of the Buller Valley, Kirk! T.F.C.; Hope Valley, T.F.C. 1500–3000 ft.
Allied to P. nivalis, but at once recognised by the erect slender habit and narrow pungent leaves. From P. Totara it is separated by the small size, much more slender habit, and narrower thinner leaves.
4. P. nivalis, Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 582.—A much-branched erect or prostrate shrub 2–8 ft. high; branches wide-spreading, often rooting at the base. Leaves close-set, sessile, not distichous, spreading or recurved, ¼–⅔ in. long, linear to linear-oblong or narrow linear-obovate, obtuse, apiculate, narrowed to the base, very thick and coriaceous, midrib prominent beneath, margins thickened. Flowers diœcious. Males axillary, solitary or 2–4 at the top of ​a slender peduncle, variable in length, very slender, ¼–1 in. long. Anthers very numerous, often laxly placed; connective obtuse. Female flowers solitary, axillary, seated on the top of a short swollen peduncle. Fruit a small oblong-ovoid nut; peduncle much enlarged, fleshy and succulent, bright-red, usually with 2 acute projections at the top (adnate bracts), 1 on each side of the nut.—Raoul, Choix, 41; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 232; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 257; Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 40; Pilger, Pflanzenreich, iv. 5, 85. P. montanus, Col. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxvii. (1895) 395.
North and South Islands: Subalpine localities from the summit of Moehau (Cape Colville) and Hikurangi southwards, not uncommon. 2000–5500 ft.
5. P. ferrugineus, D. Don. in Lamb. Gen. Pinet. ed. ii. (1832) 189.—A tall forest-tree 50–80 ft. high with a rather narrow round-topped head; trunk 1–3 ft. diam.; bark greyish-brown or almost black, scaling off in large flakes. Leaves distichous, close-set, spreading, ½–¾ in. long, linear, falcate, acute or subacute, 1-nerved, margins recurved, red-brown when dry; those of young plants longer, narrower, and more acute. Flowers diœcious. Males axillary, solitary, sessile, cylindric, equalling or rather longer than the leaves. Anthers numerous, closely packed; connective obtuse. Female flowers solitary or very rarely geminate at the top of a curved peduncle clothed with minute scale-like bracts. Fruit large, broadly oblong, drupaceous, ¾ in. long, reddish-purple with a glaucous bloom, top of the peduncle not enlarged nor succulent.—A. Cunn. Precur. n. 327; Raoul, Choix, 41; Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 542; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 232; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 257; Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 84; Pilger, Pflanzenreich, iv. 5, 66.
North and South Islands, Stewakt Island: Abundant in forests throughout. Sea-level to 3000 ft. Miro; Toromiro; Black-pine.
Wood strong, hard and compact, straight-grained, not durable in exposed situations. The fleshy drupes form the chief food of the wood-pigeon during the winter months.
6. P. spicatus, R. Br. in Benn. Pl. Jav. Rar. 40.—A tall round-headed forest-tree 40–80 ft. high; branches numerous, crowded, erect; trunk 2–4 ft. diam.; bark black or bluish-black, scaling off in large flakes. Young plants with long slender flexuous and pendulous branches, clothed towards the tips with reddish-brown leaves. Leaves of mature plants distichous, ⅓–½ in. long, linear, straight or slightly falcate, obtuse or apiculate, coriaceous, green above, glaucous beneath. Flowers diœcious. Males numerous, ⅕–⅓ in. long, linear, obtuse, horizontal, arranged in axillary spikes. Anthers closely packed; connective ovate, acute. Female flowers in 3–8-flowered spikes. Fruit black or nearly so, globose, succulent, ¼–⅓ in. diam.; fleshy receptacle wanting.—Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 543; Raoul, Choix, 41; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 232; Handb. N.Z. Fl. ​258; Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 4, 5; Pilger, Pflanzenreich, iv. 5, 65. P. Matai, Lamb, ex Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 741. Dacrydium taxifolium, Banks and Soland. ex Lamb. Pin. ed. ii. 119. D. Mai, A. Cunn. Precur. n. 329. Prumnopitys spicata, Kent in Veitch Man. Conif. ed. ii. 157.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: Not uncommon in forests from the North Cape southwards. Sea-level to 2000 ft. Matai; Mai; Black-pine.
A very distinct species, at once recognised by the spicate flowers and globose fruit. Wood brownish, hard, heavy, close-grained, of great strength and durability. This and the preceding differ from the remaining New Zealand species in wanting the succulent receptacle to the fruit.
7. P. dacrydioides, A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 358, t. 39.—A lofty tree 80–100 ft. or 120 ft. high, in swampy locallties often growing gregariously and forming dense forests; trunk 2–5 ft. diam. Leaves of two forms: those of young trees distichous, ⅙–¼ in. long, linear, falcate, upturned and acuminate at the tip, decurrent at the base, flat, nerveless; of mature trees inserted all round the branch and appressed to it, imbricated, 1/12–1/8 in. long, subulate-lanceolate, acuminate, keeled. Flowers diœcious. Males solitary, terminal, ⅙–¼ in. long; anthers crowded; connective ovate, acute. Female flowers minute, solitary, terminating the branchlets; peduncle and bracts swollen. Fruit a black ovoid nut about ⅙ in. long, seated on the greatly enlarged bright-red succulent peduncle.—Raoul, Choix, 41; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 233; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 258; Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 31, 32; Pilger, Pflanzenreich, iv. 5, 57. P. thuyoides, R. Br. in Benn. Pl. Jav. Bar. 41. Dacrydium excelsum, D. Don. in Lamb. Pin. ed. ii. App. D. ferrugineum, Van Houtte ex Gord. Pin. 590. D. thuyoides, Banks and Sol. ex Carr. Conif. 479.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: In lowland forests from the North Cape southwards, abundant. Sea-level to 2000 ft. Kahikatea; Kahika; White-pine.
One of the tallest trees in the colony, said to occasionally attain the height of 150 ft. The wood is white or pale-yellow, tough and compact, straight-grained, and easily worked, but unfortunately not durable when in contact with the ground or where regularly exposed to damp. It is very suitable for inside work of all kinds, but is liable to the attacks of a small boring beetle.
4. DACRYDIUM, Soland.
Trees or shrubs. Leaves usually dimorphic; of old trees small and scale-like, closely imbricate; of young trees or of the lower branches of old ones longer and narrower, spreading, linear or linearsubulate. Flowers diœcious or more rarely monœcious. Males solitary at the tips of the branchlets and sessile amongst the uppermost leaves. Staminal column oblong or cylindrical; anthers sessile, spirally imbricate; cells 2, globose, contiguous, deflexed; connective prolonged into a terminal claw or spur. Female flowers at or ​near the tips of the branchlets, the bracts hardly differing from the foHage leaves. Ovuliferous scale free, at length exceeding the bract; ovule solitary, at first more or less reversed, at length erect. Seeds ovoid, nut-like, seated within a membranous or fleshy cupshaped aril. Cotyledons 2.
About 16 species are known, natives of the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Australia and Tasmania, New Caledonia, New Zealand, and Chili. All the species found in New Zealand are endemic.
A. Leaves of young plants spreading, linear, flat, abruptly passing into the smaller mature scale-like leaves. Nuts 1–5 together. :
| Height 50–80 ft. Leaves of young trees 1–1½ in., shortly petiolate. Mature branchlets nearly terete. Nuts 1–5, usually 3–4 | 1. D. Kirkii. |
| Height 15–30 ft. Leaves of young trees ⅓–¾ in., shortly petiolate. Mature branchlets tetragonous, stout. Nuts 1–2 | 2. D. biforme. |
| Height 2–10 ft. Leaves of young trees ¼–⅓ in., sessile. Mature branchlets tetragonous. Nuts 1–2 | 3. D. Bidwillii. |
| B. Leaves of very young plants spreading, linear, terete, passing by gradual transitions into the mature scale-like imbricating leaves. Nuts usually solitary. ||
| Height 60–100 ft.; branchlets pendulous. Leaves of mature plants 1/12–1/8 in., subulate, trigonous. Receptacle below the female flower often fleshy | 4. D. Cupressinum. |
| Height 20–40 ft.; branchlets not pendulous. Leaves of young trees (second stage) trigonous, not distichous. Mature branchlets 1/12 in. diam.; leaves 1/15–1/10 in. long, obtuse. Nuts solitary; aril short | 5. D. intermedium. |
| Height 20–50 ft., branchlets not pendulous. Leaves of young trees (second stage) flat, triangular, decurrent, often distichous. Mature branchlets 1/20–1/15 in. diam.; leaves 1/20–1/12 in. long, subacute. Nuts often 2; aril large, sometimes reaching the middle of the nut | 6. D. Colensoi. |
| Prostrate, 3–18 in. long; branches straggling. Leaves of mature plants either spreading, 1/8–1/12 in. long, or imbricatmg, 1/25–1/20 in. | 7. D. laxifolium. |
1. D. Kirkii, F. Muell. ex Parl. in D.C. Prodr. xvi. ii. 495.—A tall tree 50–80 ft. high; trunk 2–3 ft. diam.; bark greyish-brown; lower branches spreading, upper more erect. Leaves of two forms: those of young trees and on the lower branches of old ones large, erecto-patent, 1-1½ in. long, linear, subacute, narrowed into a very short twisted petiole, flat, pale-green, coriaceous; midrib distinct; margins slightly cartilaginous. Leaves of the upper and fertile branches small and scale-hke, densely quadrifariously imbricate and appressed to the almost terete branchlets, 1/12–1/8 in. long, ovate-rhomboid, obtuse, thick and coriaceous, obtusely keeled on the back; margins thin, membranous. Flowers diœcious. Males solitary, terminal, sessile, ⅛–¼ in. long. Females at the tips of the branchlets, forming a short oblong head ¼–½ in. long. Nuts 1–5 ​(usually 3–4), oblong, obtuse, compressed, striate, about ⅛ in. long.—Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst.x. (1878) 390, t. 19; Forest Fl. t. 97; Hook. f. Ic. Plant. t. 1219; Pilger in Pflanzenreich, iv. 5, 46.
North Island: In forests from Hokianga to the Manukau Harbour, rare and local. Whangaroa, Hector and Buchanan! between Hokianga and the Northern Wairoa, Petrie! between the Bay of Islands and Whangarei, R. Mair! T.F.C.; Great Barrier Island, Kirk! Titirangi (near Auckland), T.F.C. Sea-level to 2000 ft. Monoao.
A handsome tree, distinguished from its immediate allies by the large size, the large leaves of the young trees and lower branches of the old ones, the almost terete fertile branchlets, and the usually numerous nuts. The transition from the long linear leaves of the young state to the small scale-like leaves of the old plant is most abrupt. Both forms can often be found on the same branch. The wood is pale brownish-red, strong and compact, and exceedingly durable.
2. D. biforme, Pilger in Pflanzenreich, iv. 5, 45.—A small tree 15–30 ft. or 40 ft. high, in alpine localities often dwarfed to a few feet; trunk short, 1–2 ft. diam.; bark dark-brown; branches stout, clothed with the persistent and indurated leaves; mature branchlets tetragonous. Leaves of two forms; those of young plants and on the lower branches of old ones spreading, ⅓–¾ in. long, 1/15–1/12 in. broad, linear, acute, narrowed into a very short broad often twisted petiole, flat, coriaceous; midrib distinct. Leaves of old or fertile branchlets small and scale-like, densely quadrifariously imbricate and closely appressed, 1/20–1/12 in. long, triangular or rhomboid-triangular, obtuse, very thick and coriaceous, stoutly and prominently keeled on the back. Flowers dioecious. Males solitary, terminal, sessile, about ⅛ in. long; anthers 4–6; connective ovate, obtuse. Female flowers near the tips of the branchlets. Nuts 1–2 (usually solitary), oblong, obtuse, striate, compressed, about 1/10 in. long.—D. Colensoi, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 234, and Handb. N.Z. Fl. 259 (not of Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 548); Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. x. (1878) 390; Forest Fl. t. 96. Podocarpus(?) biformis, Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 544.
North Island: Mountain districts from Tongariro and the Ruahine Mountains southwards, not common. South Island, Stewart Island: Not uncommon in mountain forests throughout. Usually from 2000 to 4500 ft., but descends to sea-level in the south-west of Otago and on Stewart Island. Yellow-pine; Tar-wood.
This is for the most part the D. Colensoi of the Flora and the Handbook; but, as shown elsewhere, not the plant originally described under that name by Sir W. J. Hooker.
3. D. Bidwillii, Hook. f. ex T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. x. (1878) 388.—A closely branched erect or prostrate shrub 2–10 ft. high; lower branches spreading, sometimes reclinate and rooting; upper more erect, frequently giving a pyramidal form to the plant; trunk short, 3–9 in. diam. Leaves of two forms; those of young plants and on the lower branches of old ones spreading, crowded, ​¼–⅓ in. long, linear, obtuse, sessile by a comparatively broad base, flat, coriaceous; midrib usually distinct. Leaves on the upper and fertile branches small and scale-like, densely quadrifariously appressed, 1/25–1/12 long, triangular, obtuse, very thick and coriaceous. Flowers diœcious. Males solitary, terminal, sessile, 1/10–1/8 in. long. Female flowers near the tips of the branchlets. Nuts 1 or 2, small, striate, compressed, obtuse, about 1/12 in. long.—Forest Fl. t. 37; Pilger in Pflanzenreich, iv. 5, 46.
Var. a, erecta, Kirk.—Main branches ascending or erect, giving the plant a pyramidal or almost fastigiate outline.
Var. b, reclinata, Kirk.—Main branches prostrate or horizontal.
North Island: Summit of Moehau (Cape Colville), Adams! Ruahine Mountains, Colenso! Lake Rotoaira, Tryon! Ruapehu, Rev. F. H. Spencer! South Island, Stewart Island: Not uncommon in subaipine localities throughout. Usually from 2000–4500 ft., but descending to sea-level in Stewart Island.
A near ally of D. biforme, principally differing in the smaller size and remarkably distinct habit, in the smaller linear leaves, which are sessile by a broad base, and in the more slender branchlets and smaller nut. When seen growing it is distinguished without any difficulty, but dried specimens not showing the linear leaves are easily confounded with slender states of D. biforme.
4. D. cupressinum, Soland. ex Forst. Pl. Escul. 80.—A tall forest-tree 60–80 ft. or even 100 ft. high, with a comparatively small round-topped head when mature, but pyramidal when young, with very long pale-green pendulous branches; trunk 2–5 ft. diam.; bark dark-brown, scaling off in large flakes. Leaves imbricating all round the branch; of young trees lax, ascending, ⅙–¼ in. long, linear-subulate, acute, almost acerose, decurrent at the base; gradually passing into those of the mature trees, which are much smaller and more closely set and more appressed to the branch, 1/12–1/8 in. long, linear, acute, trigonous, keeled at the back. Flowers diœcious. Males solitary or rarely 2 together at the tips of the branchlets, oblong; connective broadly ovate, acuminate. Female flowers solitary on the curved tips of the branchlets. Nut ovoid, barely compressed, about ⅛ in. long, seated within a cup-shaped aril; receptacle and bracts sometimes enlarged, fleshy and coloured, at other times remaining dry and unaltered.—A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 361; A. Cunn. Precur. n. 332; Raoul, Choix, 41; Hook. f. FL. Nov. Zel. i. 233; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 258; Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 18-22; Pilger in Pflanzenreich, iv. 5, 53. Thalamia cupressina, Spreng. Syst. iii. 890.
North and South Islands, Stewart Island: Abundant in forests throughout. Sea-level to 2500 ft. Rimu; Red-pine.
A well-known tree, the young state of which, with its graceful shape and pale-green pendent branches, is perhaps as beautiful and attractive as any tree ​in New Zealand. The wood is deep-red, strong, hard, and heavy, but often twisted in the grain. It is largely used for building purposes of all kinds and for the manufacture of furniture, but is not nearly as durable as either kauri or totara.
5. D. intermedium, T. Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. x. (1878) 386, t. 20.—A small tree 20–40 ft. high or more; branches spreading; trunk 1-2 ft. diam., rarely more; bark brownish-grey. Leaves of very young plants lax, spreading, ⅓–½ in. long, narrow linear-subulate, acute, curved, terete; gradually passing into the leaves of young trees, which are closer-set, squarrose or erecto-patent, ⅛–¼ in. long, broadly subulate, trigonous, acute. These again pass by imperceptible transitions into those of mature trees, which are densely quadrifariously imbricate and appressed to the branch, 1/15–1/10 in. long, ovate-triangular or rhomboid, obtuse, keeled, very thick and coriaceous. Flowers diœcious or rarely monœcious. Males usually abundantly produced, solitary, terminal, sessile, about ¼ in. long; anthers numerous; connective broadly triangular, acute. Female flowers solitary at the tips of the branchlets. Nut oblong, obtuse or apiculate, faintly striate, not compressed, ⅛–⅙ in. long, enclosed at the base in a short cup-shaped aril.—Forest Fl. t. 86; Pilger in Pflanzenreich, iv. 5, 51.
North Island: Between the Bay of Islands and Whangarei, R. Mair! Great Barrier Island, Kirk! from Cape Colville to the Thames goldfields and Te Aroha, Kirk! Adams! T.F.C.; from Lake Taupo to the Ruahine Mountains and the Tararua Range, Colenso! Tryon! Mair! A. Hamilton! South Island, Stewart Island: Not uncommon in mountain forests, chiefly on the western side of the island. Sea-level to 4000 ft. Mountain-pine; Yellow Silver-pine.
Wood reddish-yellow, highly resinous and very inflammable, of great strength and durability; largely used in Westland (together with D. Colensoi) for railway-sleepers, telegraph-poles, &c.
6. D. Colensoi, Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 548 (not of Hook. f.).—A small tree 20–40 ft. high or more, very similar in mode of growth to D. intermedium, but rather taller and more conical, with a straighter and cleaner trunk; branchlets more slender, often flexuous, 1/20–1/15 in. diam. Leaves of very young plants lax, spreading, ¼–½ in. long, narrow linear-subulate, terete, decurrent at the base; gradually passing into the leaves of young trees, which are more closely set, ⅛–⅙ in. long, lanceolate or narrow-triangular, acute, falcate, flat, decurrent at the base, often more or less spreading in one plane, giving the branchlets a distichous appearance. These pass by insensible gradations into those of mature trees, which are small and scale-like, densely quadrifariously imbricate and appressed to the branch, 1/20–1/12 in. long, rhomboid, obtuse or subacute, thick and coriaceous, keeled, apex often incurved. Flowers diœcious. Males solitary, terminal, sessile, ⅛–⅙ in. long; anthers numerous; connective broad, triangular, acute. Female flowers at the tips of the branchlets. Nuts 1 or 2, oblong, obtuse, not com​pressed, about 1/12 in. long, enclosed for ⅓ of their length or more in a lax cup-shaped aril.—Pilger in Pflanzenreich, iv. 5, 51. D. Westlandicum, T. Kirk inTrans. N.Z. Inst. x. (1878) 387, t. 18; Forest Fl. t. 85; Hook. f. Ic. Plant. t. 1218.
North Island: Between Mongonui and Kaitaia, Garse! Whangaroa, Hector! between the Bay of Islands and Whangarei, Colenso; Great Barrier Island, Kirk! Waimarino Forest, Kirk! South Island: Not uncommon along the West Coast from Collingwood to Martin's Bay, Kirk! Spencer! Townson! Brame! Helms! &c. Sea-level to 3000 ft. Silver-pine; Monoao.
Very close to the preceding; but the leaves of the young trees are much flatter, more decurrent, and often distichous; the mature leaves are smaller and the branchlets more slender; and the nuts are smaller, often 2 together, and are enclosed sometimes almost as far as the middle in the unusually welldeveloped aril. The wood is yellowish-white, straight-grained, strong and compact, very durable. It is exported from Westland to all parts of the colony for railway-sleepers, and has been used with good results for the framework of bridges, wharves, &c.
D. Colensoi is a species which has been much misunderstood. By nearly all writers the name has been applied to the mountain-plant originally described by Sir W. J. Hooker in the "Icones Plantarum" (t. 544) as Podocarpus(?) biformis, the Dacrydium biforme of this work, although the two species are in reality totally different. The mistake appears to have originated in the "Flora Novæ Zealandiæ," where Sir J. D. Hooker quoted Podocarpus(?) biformis as a synonym of D. Colensoi. His description is based entirely on D. biforme, and the localities given (Dusky Bay, Menzies; Tongariro and Ruahine Mountains, Colenso; mountains near Nelson, Bidwill) all unquestionably refer to the same plant. It is curious that, although the original plate of D. Colensoi is cited in the Flora, no reference is given to the locality in which the species was first discovered. From a letter of Mr. Colenso's sent with the type specimens, and published in the London Journal of Botany (Vol. i. p. 301), this appears to have been the rough forest country between Whangarei and the Bay of Islands—a station quite 250 miles to the north of the northern limit of D. biforme. Early in the preparation of this work a comparison of the original descriptions and figures convinced me that, although the plate of Podocarpus(?) biformis was a very faithful representation of the plant to which all New Zealand botanists, following the example of Sir J. D. Hooker, at that time assigned the name of Colensoi, it by no means corresponded with the original plate of D. Colensoi. Not only did the two plants differ in a marked degree in habit and foliage, but the figures given of the fruit of D. Colensoi were so unlike that of D. biforme as to make their specific distinctness beyond all doubt. It therefore became necessary to restore Podocarpus(?) biformis to the rank of a species under the name of D. biforme. Further study of the original plate of D. Colensoi made it clear that two subsequently described species—D. intermedium and D. Westlandicum—were evidently close allies, intermedium so far as the foliage was concerned, Westlandicum with respect to the fruit. Under these circumstances I applied to Kew with the object of having these two plants compared with the type specimens, but, unfortunately, it was found that the latter were no longer in the herbarium. About this time Dr. Pilger, of Berlin, took up the study of the Taxaceæ for "Das Pflanzenreich." Fortunately he found one of Colenso's original specimens in the Imperial Herbarium at Vienna. He has thus been able to compare it with the other New Zealand species, and has satisfied himself that it is identical with D. Westlandicum. I willingly accept this decermination, although D. Westlandicum usually has much more slender branches than those figured in the original plate. I am also glad to take this opportunity of referring New Zealand students to Dr. Pilger's memoir, which contains carefully prepared descriptions of the whole of the New Zealand Taxads, and much valuable information respecting them.
​7. D. laxifolium, Hook. f. in Hook. Lond. Journ. Bot. iv. (1845) 143.—A small prostrate shrub with very slender trailing branches 3–24 in. long; rarely suberect, and reaching a height of 2 ft. Leaves of young plants lax, spreading, ⅕–⅓ in. long, narrow-linear, acute, flat, curved; with the growth of the plant gradually becoming shorter, broader and thicker, and more closely set. Leaves of mature plants varying from ⅛ in. long, linear-oblong, obtuse or subacute, spreading, to 1/25–1/20 in. long, broadly ovate or oblong, obtuse, keeled or rounded on the back, closely imbricate. Flowers diœcious or monœcious. Males solitary, terminal, sessile, ⅕–¼ in. long. Female flowers solitary and terminal. Nut small, erect, oblong, obtuse with a small curved apiculus, about ⅛ in. long; receptacle sometimes dry, sometimes swollen and succulent.—Ic. Plant. t. 825; Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 234; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 259; Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. x. (1878) 388; Forest Fl. t. 87; Pilger in Pflanzenreich, iv. 5, 50.
North Island: Tongariro, Bidwill, Hector! T.F.C.; Ruapehu, Rev. F. H. Spencer! Ruahine Mountains, Colenso! H. Hill! Hamilton! South Island, Stewart Island: Common in mountain districts throughout. Usually between 2500 ft. and 4000 ft., but descends to sea-level in Stewart Island.
A very remarkable little species, probably the smallest known pine. Fruiting specimens can often be seen barely 3 in. in diameter, although the usual size of the plant is more. The minute imbricated leaves are often entirely wanting, even in old plants; at other times both imbricated and spreading leaves occur on the same branch.
5. PHYLLOCLADUS, L. C. Rich.
Trees or shrubs; branches often whorled; branchlets flattened and expanded into rigid and coriaceous toothed or lobed leaf-like cladodia. True leaves reduced to linear scales. Flowers monœcious or diœcious. Males fascicled at the tips of the branchlets, catkin-like, peduncled; each peduncle arising from the axil of a leafy bract. Staminal column oblong or cylindrical; anthers numerous, densely spirally imbricate, 2-celled; connective prolonged into an acute claw. Female flowers sessile on the margins of the cladodia or on peduncle-like divisions of the cladodia. Ovuliferous scales 1 or several, thick and fleshy, free. Ovule solitary, erect. Seeds erect, ovoid or oblong, compressed, protruding from the enlarged and fleshy scales, each seated within a cup-shaped aril. Cotyledons 2.
Besides the 3 species found in New Zealand, there is one in Tasmania, another in Borneo, and a sixth in New Guinea and the Philippine Islands. The genus is remarkable for the flattened cladodes or leaf-like branchlets, which take the place of the true leaves, these last being reduced to linear deciduous scales. The New Zealand species have been excellently described and figured by Mr. Kirk in Vol. x. of the "Transactions of the New Zealand Institute" and in his "Forest Flora."
| * Cladodes pinnately arranged. |
| Tree 50–70 ft. Cladodes ½–1 in. Female flowers on the margins of the cladodes | 1. P. trichomanoides. |
| Tree 25–40 ft. Cladodes 1–2½ in. Female flowers peduncled on the rhachis below the cladodes | 2. P. glaucus. |
| ** Cladodes simple. |
| Shrub or tree 5–25 ft. Cladodes ½–1 in. Female flowers on the margins of the cladodes near the base | 3. P. alpinus. |
1. P. trichomanoides, D. Don. in Lamb. Pin. ed. ii. App.—A tall graceful tree 50–70 ft. high; trunk 1–3 ft. diam.; branches whorled, slender, spreading. Cladodes or flattened leaf-like branchlets alternate and distichous on whorled rhachises 1–3 in. long, each rhachis and its cladodes resembllng a pinnate leaf; each cladode ½–1 in. long, obliquely cuneate or rhomboid, thick and coriaceous, lobed or pinnatifid, the lobes truncate or erose; veins spreading. Leaves of seedling plants ½–¾ in. long, narrow-linear, soon deciduous; of older plaints reduced to minute subulate scales at the base of the rhachises of the cladodes or of the cladodes themselves. Flowers monœcious. Males in fascicles of 5–10 at the tips of the branchlets, ⅓–½ in. long. Females on the margins of modified cladodes at the tips of the branchlets, cladodes much reduced in. size, often little more than a peduncle, each flower in the axil of a mmute subulate bract. Nuts sohtary, compressed, half exserted beyond the thickened and fleshy scales; aril cupular, with an irregularly crenulate margin.—A. Cunn. Precur. n. 326; Raoul, Choix, 41; Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 549, 550, 551; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 235; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 259; Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. x. (1878) 381; Forest Fl. t. 6, 7; Pilger in Pflanzenreich, iv. 5, 97. P. rhomboidalis, A. Rich. Fl. Nouv. Zel. 363 (not of L. C. Rich.).
North Island: In forests from the North Cape to Taranaki and Hawke's Bay, not uncommon. South Island: Northern portions of Nelson and. Marlborough, advancing along the West Coast as far south as Westport. Sea-level to 2500 ft. Tanekaha; Toatoa; Celery-leaved Pine.
Wood white, close-grained, free from knots and other defects, very serviceable for sleepers, piles, the timbers of bridges, and probably for general building purposes. Bark often used for tanning, and by the Maoris for the preparation of a red dye.
2. P. glaucus, Carr. Trait. Gen. Conif. 502.—A small handsome tapering tree 25–40 ft. high; branches stout, whorled; trunk 12–18 in. diam., rarely more. Cladodes or flattened leaf-like branchlets alternate and distichous on a rhachis 4–12 in. long, glaucous when young, 1–2½ in. long, rhomboid or obliquely ovate-cuneate, extremely coriaceous, deeply or coarsely toothed or lobed, lobes obtuse or acute. True leaves on seedling plants ½–1 in. long, linear, ​obtuse, membranous; on mature plants chiefly developed at the base of the young rhachises and falling away very early. Flowers diœcious or monœcious. Males very numerous, in fascicles of 10–20 at the tips of the branches, ¾–1 in. long, on stout peduncles of equal length. Female flowers forming globose heads terminating short stout distichous peduncles (modified cladodes) springing from the rhachis below the cladodes; fully ripe heads ½ in. long. Nuts 8–20, compressed, about ⅛ in. long, half exserted beyond the thickened scales; aril cupular.—Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. i. (1868) 149; Trans. N.Z. Inst. (1878) 380; Forest Fl. t. 98, 99; Pilger in Pflanzenreich, iv. 5, 95.
North Island: Between Whangape and Hokianga, Kirk! between Hokianga and the Northern Wairoa, Petrie! Puhipuhi Forest, R. Mair! Great Barrier Island, Omaha, Kirk! Waitakarei Ranges, T.F.C.; from Cape Colville to the Thames goldfields and Te Aroha, Kirk! Adams! T.F.C. Wairoa South, Kirk! near Titiraupenga, T.F.C. Sea-level to 2000ft. Toatoa.
A very distinct species, quite the most handsome of the New Zealand Taxads, and easily recognised by the robust branches, very large cladodes, and large female flowers. Carrière's description, founded on garden specimens of doubtful origin cultivated in France, hardly agrees with wild specimens, but probably refers to the same species.
3. P. alpinus, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 235, t. 53.—A shrub or small tree, usually from 8 ft. to 25 ft. high, but in exposed alpine localities often reduced to a bush of 3–6 ft.; branches numerous, short, stout, spreading; trunk short, 6–14 in. diam. Cladodes simple, crowded, spreading, ½–1½ in. long, variable in shape, linear-oblong to oblong-rhomboid, obtuse or acute, very coriaceous, glaucous, lobed or pinnatifid, lobes usually obtuse. True leaves on seedling plants linear, ¼–½ in. long. Flowers monœcious. Males in fascicles of 2–5 at the tips of the branchlets, ¼–⅓ in. long; peduncles short, sometimes almost wanting. Females forming globose heads towards the base of the cladodes or on the margins of modified ones. Fully ripe heads about ¼ in. diam.; scales fleshy, bright-red. Nuts small, compressed, exserted beyond the scales; aril cupular, margin irregularly lobulate.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. 260; Kirk in Trans. N.Z. Inst. x. (1878) 382; Forest Fl. t. 100; Pilger in Pflanzenreich, iv. 5, 98. P. trichomanoides var. alpinus, Parl. in D.C. Prodr. xvi. 2, 498.
North and South Islands: In subalpine and mountain forests from Cape Colville and Te Aroha to Foveaux Strait, abundant. Usually from 1500 ft. to 5000 ft., but descends to sea-level in Westland and in the south of Otago. Mountain Toatoa.
Very closely allied to the Tasmanian P. rhomboidalis, L. C. Rich. (P. aspleniifolius, Hook, f.), principally differing in the position of the female flowers. It is a very important constituent of the subalpine forests of the South Island, particularly at high altitudes.