Podocarpus brassii

Pilger 1938

Common names

"baugwa, baula [Chimbu, Waimambano], chuga [Chimbu], kaibigltuga [Minj], kaipil [Wahgi, Minj], karbuku [Komia] , maja [Mairi, Mondo], mbagua [Chimbu], tsula [Chimbu, Masul]" (Van Royen 1979).

Taxonomic notes

Silba (1986) describes a variety, humilis.

Description

"Trees or bushy shrubs, up to 15 m tall, often crooked and gnarled. Bark reddish brown, pale brown, fibrous, or pale grey-brown with broad and narrow longitudinal grooves. Inner bark yellow brown or pale orange-brown. Wood yellowish brown, sometimes slightly purplish. Branchlets stoutish, angular, terminal buds globose, 5-7 mm across, scales often spreading, ovate-lanceolate, 5-8 by 3-5 mm, acuminate, crested, tip curving outward. Leaves crowded, dark green, underside often glaucous and margin reddish, young ones reddish or light green with reddish margins, coriaceous, broadly lanceolate or obovate-lanceolate, 10-18(-25) by 3-7 mm when mature, but young ones often larger, acute or obtusely apiculate, narrowly cuneate at base, midrib narrow and prominent to subprominent above, rounded, broader and prominent below, margin revolute, often entire leaf concave and curved upwards. Petioles 0.5-2 mm long, flat above, crested below. Male cones axillary, solitary, cylindric, 2.5-3 by 0.3-0.7 cm, sessile, at base enveloped by a few scales, these bracts ovate-triangular, 3-6 by 2-5 mm, obtuse or acute, apical ones hook-tipped, all crested and slightly curving outward, microsporophylls imbricate, 3.5-4 by 1-1.5 mm, apiculus triangular or oblong, 1.5-2 mm long, acute, margin scarious, anther-cells at base, ellipsoid-ovoid, 1 mm long. Female cone solitary, axillary. Peduncle thick and fleshy, 2-9 mm long. Receptacle reddish purple, composed of 2 or 3 fleshy, fused, 5-9 by 2.5-7 mm large scales, subtended by 2 narrowly triangular, 2.5-3 by 1.5-2 mm large bracts. Ovules usually solitary. Seeds purplish or blackish when ripe, ellipsoid-globose, 7-10 by 5-6 mm, rounded at tip and base" (Van Royen 1979).

Distribution and Ecology

New Guinea. "A species usually found in the upper montane and subalpine regions, sometimes venturing out into the alpine grasslands, or a survivor from burned subalpine shrubberies replaced by grasslands, 1750-3810 m. Flowers March - October" (Van Royen 1979). Based on data from 46 collection localities, its climate preferences include a mean annual temperature of 12.5°C, with an average minimum in the coldest month of 6.3°C, and a mean annual precipitation of 3148 mm (Biffin et al. 2011, Table S5).

Regional distribution is as follows (Van Royen 1979):

"WNG. Wisse Lakes, Carstensz Mts, Ilaga area, Mt. Doorman, Mt Wichmann, Lake Habbema, Star Mts.

"TNG. Sirius plateau, Mt Hagen, Kubor Range, Pengagl Creek - Mt Wilhelm area, Mt Kerigomna, Mt Otto, Mt Michael, Mt. Piora, Mt Amungwiwa.

"PAPUA. Kaguba, Ibiwara, Mt Ambua, Mt Giluwe, Mt Albert Edward, Mt Suckling."

Remarkable Specimens

Ethnobotany

Observations

Remarks

Citations

See also

Gray, Netta E. 1958. A Taxonomic Revision of Podocarpus, XI. The South Pacific Species of Section Podocarpus, Subsection B. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 39:440. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2023.01.08.