page_title: Athrotaxis cupressoides
section_title: Distribution and Habitat
hierarchical_section_title: Athrotaxis cupressoides / Distribution and Habitat
caption_attribution_description: Athrotaxus cuppresoides, Cradle Mountain NP, Tasmania
context_page_description: Athrotaxis cupressoides, is also known as pencil pine, despite being a species of the family Cupressaceae, and not a member of the pine family. Found either as an erect shrub or as a tree, this species is endemic to Tasmania Australia. Trees can live for upwards of 1000 years, sustaining a very slow growth rate of approximately 12 mm in diameter per year.
  As with all species in the Athrotaxis genus, A. cupressoides’ leaves are single-veined and arranged in spirals. Unique to A. cupressoides the leaves are 2-3mm long/wide, overlapping and closely compressed stem. This results in a scale like appearance. Two forms of woody cones act as the gametophyte structures, which mature approximately six months after pollination and are typically retained on the tree for up to one year. The female cones are spherical with pointed bract scales 12-15 mm in diameter. The male cones are much smaller 3-5 mm in diameter. The common name pencil pine is based on it being an evergreen conical-shaped tree which grows up to 20m, with trunks up to 1.5m in diameter. This shape is most prominent when found in subalpine or open alpine vegetation, however it can also occur as a rainforest tree.
context_section_description: Athrotaxis cupressoides  is an endemic native to Tasmania, Australia. Is distribution is primarily in the central and western mountain areas between 700 and 1300m above sea level, often around tarns or damp depressions on peaty or wet-rocky soils. Locations at which you may observe A. cupressoides include; the Central Plateau, the Great Western Tier, Mt. Field National Park, the westward mountains such as Cradle Mountain and scattered on the south of the island.
  Typically Athrotaxis cupressoides are found in subalpine or open alpine vegetation. When found in montane rainforests (also known as cool temperate rainforests)  A. cupressoides dominates. These environments are typically composed of; a canopy containing Athrotaxis cupressoides, and Athrotaxis selaginoides (king billy pine), an understory containing  Nothofagus cunninghamii (myrtle beech) and Phyllocladus aspleniifolius  (celery-top pine), a shrub layer containing Olearia pinifolius (prickly daisybush) and Richea species,  and a ground covering of Astelia alpine (pineapple grass), Empodisma minus (spreading rope rush) and Gleichenia alpina (alpine coral fern).
  In regions where both A. cupressoides  and A. selaginoides grow a third hybrid species can occasionally be found. These two species are so closely related they form the hybrid Athrotaxis x laxifolia.
caption: The spiral leaf arrangement
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