Callitris muelleri

(Parl.) F.Muell. (1883)

Common names

Illawarra cypress-pine.

Taxonomic notes

Molecular studies put C. muelleri sister to C. endlicheri and C. rhomdoidea, with a most recent common ancestor in the Miocene about 15 million years ago (Larter et al. 2017).

Description

Tree: Small tree or shrub with erect branches. Leaves: Mature leaves 5-10 mm, juvenile leaves longer, occasionally remaining on cone-bearing branches. Cones: Solitary or several together on fruiting branchlets, remaining on the branches after maturity, usually depressed-globose, 20-30 mm in diameter. Cone scales: Bearing a dorsal point near the apex; alternate scales narrower, tapering to the apex and usually shorter, larger scales broader and angled above; columella 1-4 mm long, 3-lobed or 3-angled (Harden 1990).

Distribution and Ecology

Australia: NSW. "Grows in rocky places, especially on sandstone escarpments in the coastal ranges, from Mt Coricudgy south to Eden" (Harden 1990).

Remarkable Specimens

No data as of 2026-01-27.

Ethnobotany

No data as of 2026-01-27.

Observations

See the observations on iNaturalist, many of which are at relatively accessible locations.

Remarks

The epithet honors German botanist F. J. H. von Mueller (1825-1896), also remembered in Araucaria muelleri, who studied Australian botany extensively.

Citations

Bowman, D. M. J. S. and Stephen Harris. 1995. Conifers of Australia's dry forests and open woodland. Pp. 252-270 in Enright, Neal J. and Robert S. Hill (eds.) Ecology of the southern conifers. Washington, DC: Smithsonian. 342pp.

Larter, Maximilian, Sebastian Pfautsch, Jean-Christophe Domec, Santiago Trueba, Nathalie Nagalingum, and Sylvain Delzon. 2017. Aridity drove the evolution of extreme embolism resistance and the radiation of conifer genus Callitris. New Phytologist 215(1):97–112. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.14545.

Mueller, F. J. H. von. 1882. Systematic Census of Australian Plants, Melbourne: Bird M'Carron. p.109. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2026.01.27.

See also

Farjon (2005) provides a detailed account, with illustrations.