Falcatifolium falciforme
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Falcatifolium falciforme is a shrub or small tree of the genus falcatifolium in the family of podocarpaceae (Podocarpaceae). The natural range of the species is on Borneo and the Malay Peninsula . The species is widespread and sometimes common there, but it is listed in the IUCN Red List as potentially endangered, as populations are declining in lower elevations. The wood from larger trees is used, among other things, to make furniture and as construction timber.
description
Appearance
Falcatifolium falciforme grows as an evergreen shrub or tree , usually 1.5 to 12 meters high . Sometimes you can find trees 35 to 40 meters high in forests with an erect, monopodial trunk with a diameter of up to 80 centimeters ( diameter at chest height ) and a spread more or less open crown. The trunk bark is dark brown, gray-brown when exposed to the weather, smooth and only cracked and scaly in large trees. The bark is fibrous, gray-brown and exudes red resin and sap when injured.
leaves
Two types of leaves are formed: scale leaves and needle-shaped leaves. The scale leaves grow more or less pressed on the main shoots and the base of the side shoots. They are awl-shaped to narrowly lanceolate, 4 to 6 millimeters long and 1 to 2 millimeters wide. They sometimes develop into small leaves. The leaves on seedlings are significantly larger than those on older trees. They are linear-lanceolate or more often crescent-shaped, pink to purple-red when they emerge and later shiny green on both sides. They are short-stalked, 10 to 12 centimeters long, quickly widen from the base to 10 to 12 millimeters before the middle of the leaf and then, when bent forward, converge towards the pointed end. The midrib is thin and hardly raised on both sides of the leaf and extends from the base to the tip. Leaves of older trees that grow in the shade are crescent-shaped or more often S-shaped, 3 to 7 centimeters long and 5 to 9 millimeters wide and converge towards the pointed end. The midrib is not or hardly raised. Leaves exposed to the sun are significantly smaller, even on a branch of very different sizes, from 0.6 usually 2 to 4 centimeters long and from 2 usually 4 to 8 millimeters wide. The shortest leaves usually converge more quickly at the base and tip than leaves growing in the shade, otherwise the shape is similar or slightly less curved. Numerous linear, interrupted stomata opening strips are formed on both sides of the leaf, extending from the base to the tip.
Cones and seeds
The pollen cones grow individually or in groups on axillary or sometimes terminal short shoots. They are 2 to 4 inches long and 2.5 to 3.5 millimeters wide. The microsporophylls have two pollen sacs and a pointed tip above.
The seed cones grow individually on axillary short shoots with pointed scale leaves. The podocarpium is 4 to 6 millimeters long and swells to a thickness of 10 to 12 millimeters when mature, becomes succulent and turns orange to light red in color. Only one egg-shaped, crooked, slightly flattened, 6 to 7 millimeter long seed with two ridges on the side ripens per cone . The seeds are initially green and turn purple-black when ripe.
Distribution and ecology
The natural range is on Borneo , Lingga and the Malay Peninsula . One finds falcatifolium falciforme at altitudes from 300 to 2100 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 ). The species often grows on mountain ranges, where the forests are already sparse and small. In this environment Falcatifolium falciforme grows bush-shaped or as a small tree up to 12 meters high together with the broad resin disk ( Dacrydium elatum ) and Dacrycarpus imbricatus . They are also found as undergrowth in Kerangas, open forests on acidic, impoverished white sands ( Podsol ) together with Agathis borneensis , Sundacarpus amarus , Nageia wallichiana and Dacrycarpus imbricatus as dominant trees. In the plains and in the transition to montane layers on nutrient-rich soils, it can also grow as a large tree in the rainforests. However, such large trees are rare and can only be found very scattered.
Hazard and protection
In the Red List of the IUCN is falcatifolium falciforme out as potentially at risk ( "Near Threatened"). The species is widespread and common, at least at higher altitudes, but populations at lower altitudes and on more nutrient-rich subsoils are endangered by the felling of trees and the conversion of forests into agricultural areas, e.g. as plantations for oil palms ( Elaeis guineensis ). However, the decline in populations is not great enough to classify the species as endangered ("Vulnerable"). The species also grows in several protected areas.
Systematics and Etymology
Falcatifolium falciforme is a species from the genus Falcatifolium , which is part of the Podocarpaceae family. It was first described by Filippo Parlatore in 1868 as Podocarpus falciformis ( Basionym ) and thus assigned to the stone slices ( Podocarpus ). David John de Laubenfels placed it in 1969 in the Journal of the Arnold Arboretum in the newly established genus Falcatifolium .
De Laubenfels also described leaves from shaded branches of a 24 meter high tree from the Usan Apua Plateau in Sarawak , Borneo, which were only about 6 millimeters long and 2 millimeters wide, i.e. very small and should be assigned to a separate species. John Silba then produced the new species Falcatifolium usan-apuensis (de Laub. & Silba) de Laub. & Silba , based on herbarium material collected on this plateau. Silba stated that the leaves were 6 to 19 millimeters long and 2.5 to 4.5 millimeters wide, which is small but within the range of Falcatifolium falciforme leaves exposed to the sun . Apart from de Laubenfels' statement, there is no evidence that these are actually shadow leaves. Leaves on a 24-foot tree are also more likely to have been exposed to the sun. Other synonyms are Dacrydium falciforme (Parl.) Pilg. and Nageia falciformis (Parl.) Kuntze . Falcatifolium falciforme has the largest deciduous leaves in the genus, especially when looking at young specimens growing in the shade of other trees. The size of the leaves was probably also the reason that the species of the genus first Podocarpus , then the genus Nageia and finally in 1903 for more than 60 years dacrydium ( Dacrydium ) was allocated before the type species of the newly created genus falcatifolium was attributed .
The genus name Falcatifolium is derived from the Latin falcis , "sickle" and folia , "leaf", and thus refers to the sickle-like curved leaves. The specific epithet falciforme means sickle-shaped and also describes the shape of the leaves.
use
The rather rare larger trees of the species are felled outside of the protected areas together with other representatives of the stone slab family, such as representatives of the warthog ( Dacrycarpus ), the resin ( Dacrydium ) and the genus Phyllocladus , and the wood is traded as "Sempilor". Falcatifolium species wood is light and easy to work with, it is used as light construction timber, for the production of doors, windows, furniture, panels , packaging material and boat masts. However, it is not very resistant and therefore unsuitable if it is permanently exposed to the elements. Only a few specimens are cultivated in tropical botanical gardens .
swell
literature
- Aljos Farjon: A Handbook of the World's Conifers . tape 1 . Brill, Leiden-Boston 2010, ISBN 978-90-04-17718-5 , pp. 364, 365 .
- James E. Eckenwalder: Conifers of the World. The Complete Reference . Timber Press, Portland, OR / London 2009, ISBN 978-0-88192-974-4 , pp. 261 .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Aljos Farjon: A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Volume 1, p. 364
- ^ Aljos Farjon: A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Volume 1, pp. 364-365
- ↑ a b c d e f Aljos Farjon: A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Volume 1, p. 365
- ↑ a b James E. Eckenwalder: Conifers of the World , p. 261
- ↑ Falcatifolium falciforme in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2013. Posted by: A. Farjon Farjon, G. Carter, 2010. Accessed on January 18, 2014.
- ^ Podocarpus falciformis. In: The International Plant Name Index. Retrieved January 18, 2014 .
- ↑ Falcatifolium falciforme. In: The International Plant Name Index. Retrieved January 18, 2014 .
- ↑ Falcatifolium falciforme. In: The Plant List. Retrieved January 18, 2013 .
- ^ Aljos Farjon: A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Volume 1, p. 363
Web links
- Christopher J. Earle: Falcatifolium falciforme. In: The Gymnosperm Database. www.conifers.org, November 23, 2012, accessed on January 18, 2014 .
- Falcatifolium falciforme at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, accessed January 18, 2014.