Tree of subsp. jaliscanus in habitat, showing branching and crown structure. iNaturalist observation 2327126 [Ana Santiago, 2015.07].
Foliage on a plant of subsp. jaliscanus in habitat. iNaturalist observation 78830662 [Pablo Carrillo-Reyes, 2007.04.06].
Foliage and a ripe seed cone on a plant of subsp. matudae in habitat. iNaturalist observation 64066660 [Benigno Gómez Garza, 2020.11.02].
Mill (2015) provides detailed botanical illustrations of P. matudae.
Podocarpus matudae
Ciprecillo (Guatemala); curus-té (Guatemala: Huehuetenango); cedro prieto, chusnito, lengua de pájaro (Mexico); olivo, palmilla, palmillo, palmito, sabina, sabino (Mexico: Querétaro and Michoacán), tabla (Mexico: Chiapas). Ciprecillo is a widely used Spanish name applied to other Podocarpus species as well, and to Pectinopitys standleyi (Mill 2015 and citations therein).
Type: Mexico, Chiapas, Mt. Paxtal, 1936.12.29, E. Matuda 698 (holo MICH). See Mill (2015) regarding typification. Two subspecies, matudae and jaliscanus.
Synonymy for Podocarpus matudae subsp. matudae:
See Mill (2015, p. 279) regarding the Costa Rica paratype of P. reichei which may in fact belong to P. costaricensis.
Synonymy for Podocarpus matudae subsp. jaliscanus (de Laub. & Silba) Silba 2010:
Dioecious trees to 50 m tall and 150 cm dbh, developing in maturity a domed crown of spreading and ascending primary branches. Bark first smooth, later becoming scaly, pinkish brown or light brown, weathering gray. Current-year twigs 30-110 mm long, 1-3 mm thick, diverging at 35–70°. Terminal buds conical, 7.4–11.7 × 2.4–4 mm, 1.8–4.6 times as long as wide; base of bud comparable to thickness of subtending twig; bud scales 6–12, caducous, and not leaving scars at branchlet bases, outer scales narrowly triangular, 6–11 × 0.6–1.6 mm, keeled, margins entire, becoming foliaceous before flushing. Flushing leaves yellow-green, not glaucous. Leaves last at least 3 years, in groups of 9–11 per flush. Petiole 4–7 mm, twisted; diverging from twig at 30–80°. Leaves deep to medium green, glossy above (in subsp. jaliscanus sometimes gray- or yellow-green and matte), pale beneath, narrow, oblong-elliptic to lanceolate, juvenile leaves slightly longer than adult, 75–160 × 8–20 mm, 6.4–11.5 times as long as wide, straight to falcate, coriaceous but flexible, margin thickened but not revolute (except in subsp. jaliscanus); lower midrib flat with a striate band on each side, upper midrib distinctly raised and often flanked on each side by a groove, which becomes distally obscure; apex acute or acuminate. Pollen cones sessile, axillary, borne near middle of previous year’s growth, subtended by 8–10 green basal scales, usually with broad pale margins. Cones greenish yellow or greenish white when fertile, 28–62 × 2.6–3.7 mm (only 26–30 mm long in subsp. jaliscanus); pollen white. Seed cones borne on current year’s growth, peduncle (5–)11–17 mm, slender, green. Cones 1 per peduncle. Receptacle fleshy but not swollen when ripe, funnel-shaped and usually strongly curved, asymmetrical, 5.6–11.1 mm along abaxial edge, green becoming violet-purple when receptive stage and remaining violet or purple until ripe. Seeds 1-2 per receptacle, ellipsoid, 5.8-13.4 × 4.8–10.8 mm, epimatium green at receptivity but soon turning violet and remaining so till ripe, with or without a blunt crest (Mill 2015). Phenology is highly variable; see Mill (2015) for discussion.
Podocarpus matudae differs from other Central American Podocarpus in having narrow, conical vegetative buds (a character shared with the disjunct P. costaricensis); P. costaricensis differs in having a central longitudinal groove on the upper leaf surface (Mill 2015).
The subspecies are distinguished as follows:
For the typical subspecies, El Salvador; Guatemala; Mexico: Chiapas, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Puebla, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, Veracruz. There are also unverified collections from Querétaro. Subsp. jaliscanus is only known from Mexico: Jalisco, mainly in the Sierra El Tuito, the Sierra Caocoma and neighboring ranges, the Sierra de Manantlán, and the hills around Tecalitlán. The typical subspecies grows at 950-2600 m elevation on highly variable substrates, ranging from limestone karst to acidic volcanics; it occurs mainly in fog forests, including areas with pine/oak or oak dominance, as well as montane rainforest and evergreen cloud forest; it is described as late successional, which usually means it can germinate and grow beneath a largely intact forest canopy. With such a variety of habitats, it has very many associated species. Subspecies jaliscanus seems to occur in a drier landscape, at elevations of 650-2300 m, commonly on moist sites such as steep rocky streambeds within pine/oak or Abies forest, or montane mesophyll forest. In the barrancas it is sometimes the most common tree. Its gymnosperm associates may include Abies religiosa, A. guatemalensis, Dioon tomasellii, Pinus douglasiana, P. oocarpa, P. maximinoi, and P. jaliscana (Mill 2015 and citations therein).
Based on data from 70 collection localities, it grows at elevations of 1470 ±540 m. Within its range, mean annual temperature is 18.8°C, with an average minimum in the coldest month of 8.6°C, and a mean annual precipitation of 1520 mm (Biffin et al. 2011, Table S5). Zone 9 (cold hardiness limit between -6.6°C and -1.1°C) (Bannister and Neuner 2001).
The IUCN classifies this species as "Vulnerable" to human impacts. Its native distribution has been severely fragmented by habitat conversion, mainly for agriculture. For example, more than a third of the cloud forest habitat in southern Veracruz was lost just in the 1990-2003 period, and in Chiapas, nearly 90% was lost between 1975 and 2000, with highest loss rates observed near the end of the inventory period. Assessments in Mexico using IUCN methodology have classed the species as "Endangered"". These assessments have addressed the type subspecies. Mill (2015) applies the IUCN methodology to subsp. jaliscanus and rates it "Vulnerable", with severe fragmentation of remaining populations and ongoing threats from habitat loss and illegal logging. Although both subspecies have areas of occupancy large enough that they do not yet receive a Threatened or Endangered assessment, continued habitat loss at recently documented rates seems to forecast continued decline of the species.
The ripe seed cones are eaten by the resplendent quetzal, Pharomachrus mocinno, and the geometrid moth Anisodes gigantula grazes the foliage; curiously the grazing behavior varies between male and female plants (Mill 2015 and citations therein).
No data as of 2023.02.02.
The wood is used for making ropes and tool handles in Michoacán, and some people eat the ripe receptacles (Mill 2015 and citations therein).
See the observations on iNaturalist, all of which are in Mexico, including several in Jalisco. Also, Mill (2015) provides a long list of collection locales.
The epithet matudae honors Japanese botanist Eizi Matuda (1894-1978), who spent much of his career in Mexico and collected the type specimen. The epithet of subsp. jaliscanus, of course, recognizes its occurrence in Jalisco.
Lundell, C. L. 1937. Studies of Mexican and Central American Plants - II (a). Phytologia 1: 212. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2023.02.02.
Mill, R. R. 2015. A monographic revision of the genus Podocarpus (Podocarpaceae): III. The species of the Central America and northern Mexico bioregions. Edinburgh Journal of Botany 72 (2): 243–341. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0960428615000050.
Silba, J. 2010. J. Int. Conifer Preserv. Soc. 17(1):15.
The species account at Threatened Conifers of the World.
Last Modified 2023-02-26
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