Dacrydium ericoides

de Laub. (1988)

Common names

Sempilor [Bintulu] (de Laubenfels 1988); this is the same name given to D. beccarii, a widespread species of similar appearance, and is the trade name for timber of a variety of podocarps logged in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Taxonomic notes

Type: Malaysia, Sarawak, Merurong Plateau, Bukit Skelap, E. F. Brunig, SFN 8722 (holotype L, isotype K000288713). Syn. Corneria ericoides (de Laub.) A.V.Bobrov & Melikyan. The epithet is sometimes erroneously spelled "ericioides". Phylogenetic placement within Dacrydium has not been investigated.

Description

"Tree 10-17 m tall, 25-30 cm diam., with drooping twigs. Leaves linear, straight, spread out more or less perpendicular to the shoot except on new growth, narrowing abruptly at the apex to an apiculate tip, flat on the upper surface but becoming slightly concave towards the apex, stomata on the upper surface in two bands separated over the midvein, sharply keeled on the lower surface, 5-10 mm long, 0.7-1 mm wide, 0.2 mm thick. Fertile structures usually lateral, subtended by a cluster of reduced leaves which are 2-3 mm long. Pollen cones 7-10 mm long and 2-2.5 mm diam. Apex of the microsporophyll a lanceolate spur c. 1 mm long and 0.7 mm wide. Seed bracts 3-4 mm long with sometimes two fertile. Mature seed unknown" (de Laubenfels 1988).

"The spreading straight linear leaves contrast rather strikingly with other members of the genus and rather resemble the juvenile foliage of Cupressaceae. Earlier I had included it in D. spathoides where the shorter leaves are also more or less linear and much wider than thick, but in this species the fertile structures are usually terminal and are subtended by nearly typical leaves not greatly reduced as in D. ericioides, while the leaves are distinctly bent forward and not straight" (de Laubenfels 1988).

Distribution and Ecology

Malaysia: Sarawak, "known only from Mt Dulit and the Merurong Plateau in N. Sarawak. ... Locally common in primary forest on exposed mossy ridges at 1000 to 1500 m" (de Laubenfels 1988). Essentially nothing else is known about this taxon; it seems to have been collected only three times, most recently in 1959.

Distribution data for all species, from GBIF Occurrence Download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.yvmru2 accessed 2025.12.08. D. ericoides color is yellow. Click on any point for more info.

In 2011 the IUCN assessed this species as of "Least Concern" for conservation because it is known from a total of five localities and has an estimated area of occupancy of 125 km², with no signs of population decline and an absence of identified threats.

Remarkable Specimens

No data as of 2026-01-10.

Ethnobotany

No data as of 2026-01-10.

Observations

No data as of 2026-01-10.

Remarks

The epithet indicates similarity to an unspecified species of Erica.

Citations

de Laubenfels, David J. 1988. Coniferales. P. 337-453 in Flora Malesiana, Series I, Vol. 10. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2025.12.11.

See also