Halocarpus bidwillii

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Halocarpus bidwillii
Systematics
Subdivision : Seed plants (Spermatophytina)
Class : Coniferopsida
Order : Conifers (Coniferales)
Family : Stonecaceae (Podocarpaceae)
Genre : Halocarpus
Type : Halocarpus bidwillii
Scientific name
Halocarpus bidwillii
( Hook. F. Ex T. Kirk ) Quinn

Halocarpus bidwillii is one of three conifer species from the genus halocarpus in the family of podocarpaceae (Podocarpaceae). The species isnativeto New Zealand .

description

Halocarpus bidwillii grows as an evergreen shrub , rarely as a small tree and usually does not grow taller than about 3.5 meters. Trunk diameters of up to 38 cm are achieved. Branches that protrude horizontally often take root in the ground, so that a small creeping forest is often created in a ring around the shrub. The bark is thin and reddish.

The leaves are scale-shaped in adult plants and only 1 to 2 mm long; they are spiraling on the branch. In seedlings and occasionally also individual shoots on adult plants, a second ("juvenile") leaf shape occurs, namely belt-shaped leaves 5 to 10 mm long that are leathery and about 1 to 1.5 mm wide.

The male cones are at the end of the branch and are about 3 to 5 mm in size. The female cones are somewhat berry-like; a white aril surrounds each seed, 2 to 3 mm long.

distribution

The home of Halocarpus bidwillii extends in New Zealand from Cape Colville on the Coromandel Peninsula (North Island) south to Stewart Island off the South Island . In the northern part of the range, the species occurs at altitudes of 600 to 1500 m, further south also at lower altitudes. The plant grows on both swampy and dry, stony soils.

Systematics

The species is named after the British botanist John Carne Bidwill , who collected plants in New Zealand in 1839 and 1848.

A synonym of the species is Dacrydium bidwillii Hooker f. ex T. Kirk 1878, because the species was earlier (like the other two representatives of the genus Halocarpus ) placed in the genus Dacrydium .

Halocarpus bidwillii can hybridize with Halocarpus biformis and also with Lepidothamnus laxifolius .

use

The wood of this type breaks easily and is therefore not very popular.

literature

CJ Quinn: Taxonomy of Dacrydium Sol. Ex Lamb. Emend. De foliage. (Podocarpaceae) . In: Australian Journal of Botany . tape 30 , no. 3 , 1982, pp. 311-320 , doi : 10.1071 / BT9820311 .

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