 | Halocarpus biformis (Hooker) C.J. Quinn 1982Common NamesPink pine (1).Taxonomic notesSyn: Dacrydium biforme (Hooker) Pilger 1903; Podocarpus biformis Hooker 1843; Dacrydium colensoi Kirk [not Hooker] f. 1854, misapplied name (3). A possible natural hybrid, H. biforme × Lepidothamnus laxifolius, has been reported in New Zealand (4).Description"A small tree [4.5-12 m] high, with a short trunk [30-60 cm in diameter], or becoming shrubby in alpine localities. Branches stout, clothed with persistent leaves. Branchlets 4-sided. Leaves on young plants yew-like, spreading, linear, [8-19 mm] long, narrowed into a short, twisted stalk; those of older branchlets scale-like, densely overlapping, closely pressed, [1.2-2 mm] long, blunt, very thick, prominently keeled on the back. Male strobili solitary, about [4 mm] long, at the tips of branchlets. Seeds solitary or rarely in pairs, oblong, blunt, striate, compressed, about [2.5 mm] long" (4).RangeNew Zealand, North Island (1), widely distributed in mountain forests and occasionally descending to sea level (4).Big TreeOldestDendrochronologyHas been investigated (2).Ethnobotany"Wood yellowish-brown in colour, straight and even-grained, strong and durable even in contact with the ground. It is used locally for building purposes, railway sleepers, fence posts, and other work" (4).ObservationsRemarksSee also Paleobotany of Australia and New Zealand conifers.Citations(1) Silba 1986.(2) Norton & Palmer 1992. (3) Quinn 1982. (4) Dallimore & Jackson 1967. See also (from (4)): |
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