Dacrydium gibbsiae

Stapf. ex Gibbs 1914

Common names

Taxonomic notes

Syn: D. beccari var. kinabaluense Corner 1939 (de Laubenfels 1988).

Description

"Small tree, 2-12 m tall. Juvenile leaves spreading widely, slightly curved forward towards the apiculate tip, at least 12 mm long, slightly wider than thick. Adult leaves robust, the acute tip bent to be parallel to the branch or even curved slightly inward, crowded, linear or linear-lanceolate, 5-8 mm long, concave on the axial side, strongly keeled on the dorsal side, 0.8 to at least 1 mm wide, 0.2-0.3 mm thick. Fertile structures terminal, often on a short lateral branch. Pollen cones 20-25 mm long and 4.5-7 mm diam.; microsporophyll lanceolate, 5-6 mm long, 1.5 mm wide at the base. Seed-bearing structure consisting of bracts slightly narrower than ordinary foliage leaves and increasing slightly in length towards the apex where one or two may be fertile, spreading slightly and completely covering the epimatium but surpassed by the apex of the mature seed which is 4.5 mm long" (de Laubenfels 1988).

Distribution and Ecology

"N. Borneo (Mt Kinabalu). Common on the slopes... Co-dominant on ultrabasic soils in the mountain mossy forest from 1500-3600 m" (de Laubenfels 1988).

Zone 10 (cold hardiness limit between -1°C and +4.4°C) (Bannister and Neuner 2001).

Remarkable Specimens

No data as of 2023.02.21.

Ethnobotany

No data as of 2023.02.21.

Observations

No data as of 2023.02.21.

Remarks

The epithet honors Lilian Suzette Gibbs (1870-1925), a botanist with the British Museum who intensively studied mountain floras worldwide, was the first known woman to ascend Mt. Kinabalu, and collected the type specimen. Podocarpus gibbsiae is also named for her.

Citations

Sengbusch, Peter v. [no date]. http://www.rrz.uni-hamburg.de/biologie/b_online/d47/dacrydi.htm, accessed 1998.11.28 now defunct.

Gibbs, Lilian Suzette. 1914. A contribution to the flora and plant formations of Mount Kinabalu and the highlands of British North Borneo. The Journal of the Linnean Society. Botany 42:192-193, t. 4. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2021.12.24.

See also

Dallimore et al. (1967).

de Laubenfels (1969).

Gaussen, Gymn. Act. & Foss. fasc. 13, ch. 20 (1974) 34, f. 681.