30-495: Podocarpus totara ( / ˈ t oʊ t ə r ə / ), also known as the tōtara , is a species of podocarp tree endemic to New Zealand . It grows throughout the North Island , South Island and rarely on Stewart Island / Rakiura in lowland, montane and lower subalpine forest at elevations of up to 600 m. Tōtara is commonly found in lowland areas where the soil is fertile and well drained. Its Māori name comes from
60-602: A fleshy, berry -like, brightly coloured receptacle at maturity. The fleshy cones attract birds , which then eat the cones and disperse the seeds in their droppings. About 97 to 107 species are placed in the genus depending on the circumscription of the species. Species are cultivated as ornamental plants for parks and large gardens. The cultivar 'County Park Fire' has won the Royal Horticultural Society 's Award of Garden Merit . Common names for various species include "yellowwood" and "pine", as in
90-1841: A number of times based on genetic and physiological evidence, with many species formerly assigned to Podocarpus now assigned to other genera. A sequence of classification schemes has moved species between Nageia and Podocarpus , and in 1969, de Laubenfels divided the huge genus Podocarpus into Dacrycarpus, Decussocarpus (an invalid name he later revised to the valid Nageia ), Prumnopitys , and Podocarpus . Some species of genus Afrocarpus were formerly in Podocarpus , such as Afrocarpus gracilior . P. atjehensis (Wasscher) de Laubenfels P. nubigenus Lindley P. nivalis Hooker P. acutifolius Kirk P. totara Benn. ex Don P. lawrencei Hooker P. laetus Hooibr. ex Endlicher P. gnidioides Carrière P. hallii Kirk P. parlatorei Pilger P. glomeratus Don P. transiens (Pilger) de Laubenfels P. lambertii Klotzsch ex Endlicher P. sprucei Parlatore P. elongatus (Aiton) L'Héritier de Brutelle ex Persoon P. latifolius (Thunberg) Brown ex de Mirbel P. milanjianus Rendle P. henkelii Stapf ex Dallim. & Jackson P. capuronii de Laubenfels P. madagascariensis Baker P. smithii de Laubenfels P. salignus Don P. matudae Lundell P. urbanii Pilger P. purdieanus Hooker P. aristulatus Parlatore P. ekmanii Urb. P. barretoi de Laubenfels & Silba P. angustifolius Grisebach P. rusbyi Buchholz & Gray P. hispaniolensis de Laubenfels P. celatus de Laubenfels P. oleifolius Don Podocarpaceae See text Podocarpaceae
120-425: A slender rachis with numerous spirally arranged microsporophylls around it. Each triangular microsporophyll has two basal pollen -producing pollen sacs. The pollen is bisaccate. The seed cones are highly modified with the few cone scales swelling and fusing at maturity. The cones are pedunculate and often solitary. The seed cone consists of two to five cone scales of which only the uppermost one or rarely two nearest
150-471: Is a genus of conifers , the most numerous and widely distributed of the podocarp family, the Podocarpaceae . The name comes from Greek πούς (poús, "foot") + καρπός (karpós, "fruit"). Podocarpus species are evergreen shrubs or trees , usually from 1 to 25 m (3 to 82 ft) tall, known to reach 40 m (130 ft) at times. The cones have two to five fused cone scales, which form
180-725: Is a classic member of the Antarctic flora , with its main centres of diversity in Australasia , particularly New Caledonia , Tasmania , and New Zealand, and to a slightly lesser extent Malesia and South America (primarily in the Andes Mountains). Several genera extend north of the equator into Indochina and the Philippines . Podocarpus reaches as far north as southern Japan and southern China in Asia, and Mexico in
210-599: Is a large family of mainly Southern Hemisphere conifers , known in English as podocarps , comprising about 156 species of evergreen trees and shrubs. It contains 19 genera if Phyllocladus is included and Manoao and Sundacarpus are recognized. The family achieved its maximum diversity in the Cenozoic , making the Podocarpaceae family one of the most diverse in the southern hemisphere . The family
240-522: Is hard, straight-grained, and very resistant to rot, especially its heartwood . Due to its durability, tōtara wood was often used for fence posts, floor pilings, and railway sleepers. It is also prized for its carving properties, and was the primary wood used in Māori carving. It was the primary wood used to make waka in traditional Maori boat building due to its relatively light weight (about 25% lighter than kauri ), long, straight lengths, and natural oils in
270-479: Is not eaten by livestock. The two varieties of tōtara are: In a classic example of Antarctic flora species-pair the tōtara is very closely related to Podocarpus nubigenus from South America , to the extent that if planted together, they are very difficult to distinguish. The best distinction is the grey-green tone of the leaves, compared to the slightly brighter green of P. nubigenus . Tōtara grows easily from fresh seed and cuttings . It has been planted in
300-408: Is noted for its longevity and the great girth of its trunk. The bark peels off in papery flakes, with a purplish to golden brown hue. The sharp, dull-green, needle-like leaves are stiff and leathery, 2 cm long. This plant produces highly modified cones with two to four fused, fleshy, berry-like, juicy scales, bright red when mature. The cone contains one or two rounded seeds at the apex of
330-406: Is spiral, and may be subopposite on some shoots. The leaves are usually linear-lanceolate or linear-elliptic in shape, though they can be broader lanceolate, ovate, or nearly elliptic in some species. Juvenile leaves are often larger than adult leaves, though similar in shape. The leaves are coriaceous and have a distinct midrib. The stomata are usually restricted to the abaxial or underside of
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#1732802173328360-581: Is usually green, but may be bluish or reddish in some species. The natural distribution of the genus consists of much of Africa, Asia, Australia, Central and South America, and several South Pacific islands. The genus occurs from southern Chile north to Mexico in the Americas and from New Zealand north to Japan in the Asia-Pacific region. Podocarpus and the Podocarpaceae were endemic to
390-475: The Proto-Polynesian word * tootara (related to the word tara lit. 'thorn') which when passed down to descendant languages refer to spiny creatures, especially the porcupinefish ( Diodon hystrix ) due to its spiky leaves. The spelling "totara" without the tohutō is also common in English. The tōtara is a medium to large tree , which grows slowly to around 20 to 25 m, exceptionally to 35 m; it
420-613: The sister group to the Araucariaceae , and having diverged from it during the late Permian . While some fossils attributed to the family have been reported from the Late Permian and Triassic, like Rissikia , these cannot be unambiguously assigned to the family. The oldest unambiguous members of the family are known from the Jurassic period, found across both hemispheres, such as Scarburgia and Harrisiocarpus from
450-634: The African species fell under Podocarpus – P. falcatus , P. elongatus , P. henkelii , and P. latifolius . Taxonomists divided Podocarpus species into eight species groups based on leaf anatomy: Afrocarpus J.Buchholz & N.E.Gray, Dacrycarpus Endl., Eupodocarpus Endl., Microcarpus Pilg., Nageia ( Gaertn. ) Endl. , Polypodiopsis C.E.Bertrand (non Polypodiopsis Carriére nom. rej. prop. 6), Stachycarpus Endl. and Sundacarpus J.Buchholz and N.E.Gray . Studies of embryology, gametophyte development, female cone structure, and cytology led to
480-413: The Americas, and Nageia into southern China and southern India. Two genera also occur in sub-Saharan Africa, the widespread Podocarpus and the endemic Afrocarpus . Parasitaxus usta is unique as the only known parasitic gymnosperm . It occurs on New Caledonia, where it is parasitic on another member of the Podocarpaceae, Falcatifolium taxoides . The genus Phyllocladus is sister to
510-742: The Podocarpaceae sensu stricto . It is treated by some botanists in its own family, the Phyllocladaceae . The Podocarpaceae show great diversity, both morphologically and ecologically. Members occur mainly in the Southern Hemisphere, with most genetic variety taking place in New Caledonia, New Zealand, and Tasmania. Species diversity of Podocarpus is found mainly in South America and the Indonesian islands,
540-509: The United Kingdom as far north as Inverewe , Scotland . Several cultivars for garden use have been introduced. These include 'Albany Gold' and 'Aurea', both have yellow 'gold' foliage that darkens in winter; 'Pendula', which has a weeping growth habit that is especially pronounced in young plants; 'Silver Falls', also pendulous but with cream-edged foliage; and 'Matapouri Blue', which has a conical form and glaucous foliage. The wood
570-422: The ancient supercontinent of Gondwana , which broke up into Africa , South America , India , Australia-New Guinea , New Zealand , and New Caledonia between 105 and 45 million years ago. Podocarpus is a characteristic tree of the Antarctic flora , which originated in the cool, moist climate of southern Gondwana, and elements of the flora survive in the humid temperate regions of the former supercontinent. As
600-401: The apex of the cone are fertile. Each fertile scale usually has one apical ovule. The infertile basal scales fuse and swell to form a succulent, usually brightly colored receptacle. Each cone generally has only one seed , but may have two or rarely more. The seed is attached to the apex of the receptacle. The seed is entirely covered by a fleshy modified scale known as an epimatium. The epimatium
630-466: The belief that the eight categories probably deserved generic status. Researchers agreed on the need to recognize "fairly natural groupings which prove to have good geographic and probably evolutionary cohesion" and took the necessary steps to raise each section to generic status. In 1990, a treatment of the Podocarpaceae recognized 17 genera, excluding Phyllocladus from the family, while recognizing Sundacarpus , but not Manoao . In 1995, Manoao
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#1732802173328660-591: The continents drifted north and became drier and hotter, podocarps and other members of the Antarctic flora generally retreated to humid regions, especially in Australia, where sclerophyll genera such as Acacia and Eucalyptus became predominant. The flora of Malesia , which includes the Malay peninsula , Indonesia, the Philippines , and New Guinea, is generally derived from Asia, but includes many elements of
690-647: The latter also being rich in Dacrydium and Dacrycarpus species. Podocarpus (with 82 to 100 species) and Dacrydium (with 21 species) are the largest genera. A few genera are common to New Zealand and South America, supporting the view that podocarps had an extensive distribution over southern Gondwanaland . The breaking up of Gondwanaland led to large-scale speciation of the Podocarpaceae. Until 1970, only seven Podocarpaceae genera were recognized: Podocarpus , Dacrydium , Phyllocladus , Acmopyle , Microcachrys , Saxegothaea , and Pherosphaera . All four of
720-432: The leaf, forming two stomatal bands around the midrib. Podocarpus spp. are generally dioecious , with the male pollen cones and female seed cones borne on separate individual plants, but some species may be monoecious . The cones develop from axillary buds , and may be solitary or form clusters. The pollen cones are long and catkin -like in shape. They may be sessile or short pedunculate. A pollen cone consists of
750-464: The old Gondwana flora, including several other genera in the Podocarpaceae ( Dacrycarpus , Dacrydium , Falcatifolium , Nageia , Phyllocladus , and the Malesian endemic Sundacarpus ), and also Agathis in the Araucariaceae . The two subgenera, Podocarpus and Foliolatus , are distinguished by cone and seed morphology. In Podocarpus , the cone is not subtended by lanceolate bracts, and
780-718: The plum pine ( Podocarpus elatus ) or the Buddhist pine ( Podocarpus macrophyllus ). Podocarpus species are evergreen woody plants. They are generally trees, but may also be shrubs. The trees can reach a height of 40 metres (130 ft) at their tallest. Some shrubby species have a decumbent growth habit. The primary branches form pseudowhorls around the trunk. The bark can be scaly or fibrous and peeling with vertical strips. Terminal buds are distinctive with bud scales that are often imbricate and can be spreading. The leaves are simple and flattened, and may be sessile or short petiolate. The phyllotaxis or leaf arrangement
810-501: The scales. The largest known living tōtara, the Pouakani Tree, near Pureora in the central North Island, is over 35 m tall and nearly 4 m in trunk diameter at breast height. Bushmen discovered it in 1950. Other large trees are known in this area, while Whirinaki Forest, to the east, but also on deep recent volcanic soils, has groves of very tall tōtara (over 40 m in height). Tōtara is often found regenerating on farmland, as it
840-578: The seed usually has an apical ridge. Species are distributed in the temperate forests of Tasmania , New Zealand , and southern Chile , with a few occurring in the tropical highlands of Africa and the Americas. In Foliolatus , the cone is subtended by two lanceolate bracts ("foliola"), and the seed usually lacks an apical ridge. The species are tropical and subtropical, concentrated in eastern and southeastern Asia and Malesia, overlapping with subgenus Podocarpus in northeastern Australia and New Caledonia . Species in family Podocarpaceae have been reshuffled
870-479: The wood that help prevent rotting. Tōtara could be drilled with chert points to make holes near the edges of the timber without splitting. In larger tōtara waka , three or more sections were laced together with flax rope. A tōtara waka took at least a year to make using stone adzes. Bark from tōtara is used to cover and protect traditional pōhā bags. Podocarpus About 97–107 species, see list Podocarpus ( / ˌ p oʊ d ə ˈ k ɑːr p ə s / )
900-463: Was segregated from Lagarostrobus , based on morphological characteristics . In 2002, a molecular phylogenetic study showed Sundacarpus is embedded in Prumnopitys and the monophyly of Lagarostrobos is doubtful if Manoao is included within it. More recent treatments of the family have recognized Manoao , but not Sundacarpus . Molecular evidence supports Podocarpaceae being
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