Phyllocladus
\n| Phyllocladus |
|---|
\n\n |
|---|
\n| \n\n |
\n| Species |
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\n| Five; see text |
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Phyllocladus is a small genus of
conifers, now treated in the Family
Podocarpaceae. They are morphologically very distinct from the other genera in that family, and some botanists treat them in a family of their own, the
Phyllocladaceae. However, genetic analysis shows that they fall within the Podocarpaceae; their removal from this family leaves the remainder of Podocarpaceae as a
polyphyletic taxon. As modern
scientific classification requires taxa to be monophyletic,
Phyllocladus is best treated within the Podocarpaceae.
This genus is mainly a
southern hemisphere genus, occurring in
New Zealand,
Tasmania and
Malesia, where one species crosses a short way north of the
equator in the
Philippines.
They are small to medium-size
trees, reaching 10-30 m tall. The main structural shoots are green for 2-3 years, then turn brown as the bark thickens. The leaves are sparse, tiny, scale-like, 2-3 mm long, and only green (photosynthetic) for a short time, soon turning brown. Most
photosynthesis is performed by highly modified, leaf-like short shoots called
phylloclades; these develop in the axils of the scale leaves, and are simple or compound (depending on species)—the simple phylloclades rhombic, 2-5 cm long, and the compound up to 20 cm long and subdivided into 5-15 'leaflet'-like phylloclades 1-3 cm long. The seed
cones are
berry-like, similar to those of several other Podocarpaceae genera, notably
Halocarpus and
Prumnopitys, with a fleshy white
aril; the seeds are dispersed by
birds, which digest the soft fleshy aril as they pass the hard seeds in their droppings.
- Species\n**Phyllocladus alpinus (P. trichomanoides var. alpinus) - Mountain Toatoa (New Zealand)\n**Phyllocladus asplenifolius - Celery-top-pine (Tasmania)\n**Phyllocladus hypophyllus - Malesian Celery-pine (New Guinea to Borneo & Philippines)\n**Phyllocladus toatoa - Toatoa (New Zealand)\n**Phyllocladus trichomanoides - Tanekaha (New Zealand)
Reference
\nQuinn, C. J. & R. A. Price. 2003. Phylogeny of the Southern Hemisphere Conifers. Proc. Fourth International Conifer Conference, p. 129-136.
External link
\nGymnosperm Database - Phyllocladus