Acmopyle sahniana
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| Acmopyle sahniana | ||||||||||||
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Acmopyle sahniana is a conifer of the genus acmopyle in the family of podocarpaceae (Podocarpaceae). The natural range is on Viti Levu , the main island of the Republic of Fiji . There it grows in a very small area in rainforests on mountain slopes and near the peaks. It is listed as critically endangered onthe IUCN Red List . There are only fewer than 100 known mature trees.
features
Acmopyle sahniana grows as a small, up to 12 meters high, evergreen and possibly also single-sex tree . The trunk is mostly monopodial and reaches a diameter of up to 20 centimeters ( diameter at chest height ). The trunk bark is brown, gray when exposed to the weather, usually smooth or sometimes warty. The inner bark is red and more or less fibrous. Only a few branches are formed that are spread out and needled at the ends. The crown is about half the width of the tree.
Twigs and needles
The outermost needled branches are 2 to 6 and sometimes up to 12 centimeters long, are alternate, and shed the needles after a few years. They have small scale leaves at the base and then the needles that are arranged like a comb . The needles of young and mature trees are similar. They are arranged alternately and stand at an angle of 60 to 90 degrees from the branch. They are straight, more often crescent-shaped bent forward or on strong branches also bent into an S-shape. In the middle of the branch they are 10 to 25 millimeters long, from 0.6 usually 2 to 4 and rarely up to 4.8 millimeters wide, and are shortest at the base and the outer end of the branch. The base of the needle is sloping and twisted, the edges of the needle are bent down and ciliate, and the end of the needle is pointed. The midrib is narrow and weak on the top; it protrudes clearly from the bottom. The top of the needle is glossy dark green and shows two whitish bands that are separated by the midrib. The underside has green leaf margins. Both sides form numerous interrupted stomata lines , which can also be found on the underside on the midrib. On the upper side there are individual stomata near the base and the tip of the needles.
Cones and seeds
The pollen cones grow individually or in pairs sitting or on very short stems near or at the ends of the branches. They are initially round, later lengthen and are 5 to 8 millimeters long and about 1.5 millimeters in diameter when ripe. The microsporophylls are arranged like roof tiles, keeled and pointed. They carry two small pollen sacs at the base .
The seed cones grow individually on up to 6 millimeters long, curved stems overgrown with scale leaves near or at the ends of lateral, leafy branches. Sometimes they grow in the armpits of deciduous leaves or scale leaves. The cones consist of two or three sterile and one or rarely two fertile, coalesced cover scales that form a fleshy, swollen, irregularly shaped, warty, green or purple, 7 to 9 millimeter long and 7 to 8 millimeter diameter podocarpium . The seeds grow individually on the outer end of the podocarpium. They are rounded and are surrounded by the epimatium . The epimatium is striped, gray-violet and whitish frosted and at maturity 7 to 9 millimeters long and 5 to 6 millimeters wide.
Distribution and ecology
The natural range of Acmopyle sahniana is in the interior of Viti Levu , the main island of the Republic of Fiji on Mt. Tomanivi and in Namosi. Another occurrence in the west of the island is now considered extinct. The species grows as a small tree in low rainforests on mountain slopes and peaks at an altitude of 600 to 1050 meters. The distribution area is assigned to the hardiness zone 10 with mean annual minimum temperatures between −1.1 and +4.4 degrees Celsius (30 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit ).
Hazard and protection
Acmopyle sahniana was classified in 2010 by the IUCN in the Red List as critically endangered. There are fewer than 100 fully grown trees divided into multiple occurrences. One of the deposits, the one at Mt. Koroyanitu in the west of the island, has now disappeared, making the distribution area less than 100 square kilometers. The actual vegetated area ("area of occupancy") is more than 10 square kilometers. The deposits are highly fragmented and stocks continue to decline. Due to the small size of the remaining occurrences, the stocks are strongly endangered by natural causes but also by humans. The deposits in the Korobasabasaga area are also threatened by mining.
Systematics and Etymology
Acmopyle sahniana is a species from the genus Acmopyle , which belongs to the family of stone slices (Podocarpaceae). Created in 1947 by John Theodore Buchholz and Netta Elizabeth Gray in Arboretum Journal of the Arnold firstdescribed . A synonym of the species is Parasitaxus vodonaivalui Silba .
The generic name Acmopyle comes from the Greek, akme denotes the highest point and pyle stands for "opening". It thus refers to the erect position of the ripe seeds. The specific epithet sahniana honors the Indian botanist Birbal Sahni (1891–1941), who examined the morphology of the genus Acmopyle and recognized that several specimens in Fiji can also be assigned to this genus.
use
There is no known use of the species.
swell
literature
- Aljos Farjon: A Handbook of the World's Conifers . tape 1 . Brill, Leiden-Boston 2010, ISBN 978-90-04-17718-5 , pp. 130-131 .
- James E. Eckenwalder: Conifers of the World. The Complete Reference . Timber Press, Portland, OR / London 2009, ISBN 978-0-88192-974-4 , pp. 121, 122 .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Aljos Farjon: A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Volume 1, p. 130.
- ^ Aljos Farjon: A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Volume 1, pp. 130-131.
- ↑ a b c James E. Eckenwalder: Conifers of the World , p. 122.
- ↑ a b c d Aljos Farjon: A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Volume 1, p. 131.
- ↑ a b acmopyle sahniana in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2013. Posted by: P. Thomas, 2011. Accessed February 12, 2014.
- ^ Acmopyle sahniana. In: The International Plant Name Index. Retrieved February 9, 2014 .
- ^ Acmopyle sahniana. In: The Plant List. Retrieved February 12, 2014 .
- ^ Aljos Farjon: A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Volume 1, p. 129.
Web links
- Christopher J. Earle: Acmopyle sahniana. In: The Gymnosperm Database. www.conifers.org, March 26, 2013, accessed February 10, 2014 (English).
- Acmopyle sahniana at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, accessed February 12, 2014.