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Callitris preissii Miq.
Common NamesRottnest Island pine (1), Murray pine (2), slender cypress pine; subsp. verrucosa = mallee cypress pine, sandhill pine, scrub cypress pine.Taxonomic notesSyn: C. robusta (1). Three subspecies: preissii, murrayensis and verrucosa (see Remarks). "Subspecies verrucosa and murrayensis intergrade and are often difficult to determine satisfactorily. These intergrades tend to hybridize with C. glaucophylla" (3).Description"Tree or shrub with erect or spreading branches, or a stunted, irregularly branched tree, sometimes several-stemmed, occasionally glaucous. Leaves 2-4 mm long. Female cones solitary or several together on stout, often clustered fruiting branchlets, remaining on branches long after maturity, ovoid to depressed-globose, 20-35 mm diam.; columella usually short and thick" (3).RangeAustralia: NSW, Vic., SA, & WA (3).Big TreeOldestDendrochronologyEthnobotanyAborigines on the Murray River made a combined canoe pole and fish spear nearly 4 m long from the wood of the tree, called by them Maroong. The resin was also a cement for fastening barbs to spears (2).ObservationsRemarksCallitris preissii ssp. preissii (syn: C. propinqua (1); C. robusta R. Br. ex Bailey; C. gracilis Baker) has "[c]ones usually 25 mm or more in diam., smooth or sparsely warted (in N.S.W.), broad-ovoid when immature, shorter than wide after maturity. Tree with erect or spreading branches on sandstone hillsides. Mature cones depressed-globose, 25-30 mm diam., warts absent or scattered, large, often to 3 mm diam." It is found in Australia: NSW, Vic., SA & WA. "Grows on sandstone hillsides, [in NSW] chiefly in the Rylstone to Goulburn R. district" (3).Callitris preissii ssp. murrayensis J. Garden (syn: C. propinqua R. Br. ex R. Baker & H. G. Smith), the mallee pine, has "[c]ones usually 25 mm or more in diam., smooth or sparsely warted (in N.S.W.), ovoid when immature, tending to be longer than wide after maturity. Tree to 20 m with spreading branches, foliage olive green to bluish green. Cones mostly 2.5-3 cm long, almost globose, warts absent or few; cone glaucous at the base when immature" It is found in Australia: NSW, Vic. & SA. "Mainly grows along the Murray R. valley, especially on sandy ridges" (3). Callitris preissii ssp. verrucosa (Cunn. ex Endl.) J. Garden (syn: Frenella verrucosa (1); C. verrucosa (Cunn. ex Endl.) F. Muell. (3)), the mallee pine, has "[c]ones usually <25 mm diam., densely warted (in N.S.W.). Small stunted tree often with several trunks and rarely more than 6 m high, foliage glaucous. Female cones broad-ovoid to depressed-globose, the warts mostly small, 1-2 mm diam, sometimes larger and more scattered" Found in Australia: New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia & Western Australia. "Usually grows in small clumps or as isolated trees; in mallee areas, chiefly in western divisions" (3). Citations(1) Silba 1986.(2) Australia National Botanical Garden, Aboriginal Trail page. (3) Harden 1990. |
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