Rimu resin
| Rimu resin | ||||||||||||
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Adult rimu slice ( Dacrydium cupressinum ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Dacrydium cupressinum | ||||||||||||
| Sol. ex G.Forst. |
The Rimu resin slice ( Dacrydium cupressinum ) is a type of plant from the stone slice family (Podocarpaceae). It is only native to New Zealand. The English common name red pine , translated 'red pine', is misleading because it is not a pine , but a member of the stone slice family in the southern hemisphere. Today in New Zealand the Māori name "Rimu" is used for the tree.
Occurrence
Dacrydium cupressinum is only native to New Zealand. Rimu grow in New Zealand on both main islands and Stewart Island . The largest populations are found on the west coast of the South Island , the largest trees in the mixed stone- beech forests near the city of Taupo ( Pureora , Waihaha and Whirinaki Forest).
The Rimu mostly grows in temperate rainforest dominated by deciduous trees , but there are almost pure stocks, especially on the west coast of the South Island.
description
Dacrydium cupressinum is a slow-growing, evergreen tree that can reach heights of up to 50 meters. Most of the surviving trees are only 20 to 35 meters high. Historical traditions speak of trees up to 61 meters high in the now destroyed, dense forests near the National Park . The straight trunk usually reaches a diameter of up to 1.5 meters, with old or very large specimens even more. They can live to be 800 to 900 years old. The needles, which are arranged in a spiral on the branch, are awl-shaped and up to 7 mm long and 1 mm wide in young plants and 2 to 3 mm long in adult trees.
Dacrydium cupressinum is dioeciously dioecious ( dioecious ) like most stone vines . The seeds take 15 months to mature. The ripe "cones" consist of a red, fleshy, 6 to 10 mm long aril that bears one, more rarely two terminal, 4 mm long seeds. The seeds are distributed by birds that eat the aril and later excrete the seeds. The fruits are an important food source for some species, especially the kakapo , whose breeding cycle is coordinated with the reproductive cycle of the tree.
use
For the early European settlers, Rimu was the main source of wood for furniture and house construction alongside Kauri and Totara . As a result, many of the original holdings were destroyed. Currently, a government order bans the felling of trees in publicly owned forests; Use on private property is subject to restrictions. The extremely fast-growing Monterey pine has replaced the rimu in most industries; Rimu remains popular as wood for high-quality furniture. The stumps and root wood of trees felled many years ago are also obtained on a smaller scale in order to process them into bowls and other turned parts.
The inner bark can be used as a remedy for burns and cuts.
More pictures
Leaves of young plants
leaves
Web links
- Dacrydium cupressinum inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Thomas, P., 2010. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
- Dacrydium cupressinum . New Zealand Plant Conservation Network,accessed September 9, 2014.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b J.T. Salmon: The Native Trees of New Zealand . Reed Books, Auckland, New Zealand 1993, pp. 74-79.
- ↑ Maori uses: Medicinal plants, Conifers - Rimu, red pine . School of Biological Science - University of Auckland , archived from the original on May 24, 2010 ; accessed on January 16, 2016 (English, original website no longer available).