Plant in habitat; one of the photos posted on the endemia.nc page for P. sylvestris [Gildas Gâteblé].
Detail drawing from de Laubenfels (1972).
Plant in habitat; one of the photos posted on the endemia.nc page for P. sylvestris [Gildas Gâteblé].
Detail drawing from de Laubenfels (1972).
Podocarpus sylvestris
Syn. (Farjon 1998):
Regarding P. colliculatus, Farjon (2010) says "Gray should have placed this taxon (as a variety) with P. sylvestris, from which it differs only slightly in having somewhat larger receptacles and longer peduncles ... the differences between P. colliculatus and P. sylvestris are minor and not constant in the specimens I have seen." The combination P. sylvestris var. colliculatus, however, has not yet been made.
Trees to 20(-30) m tall and 80 cm dbh with spreading branches forming a broad crown, but at high altitudes shrubby, mostly 1.5-3 m tall. Bark brown, thin, more or less tesselated, on large trees becoming thick and fibrous, fissured longitudinally. Twigs round, finely grooved, with small, ovoid buds with 1-2 mm long, imbricate, appressed, obtuse scales. Juvenile plants bear leaves to 16 cm × 18 mm wide. On adult trees and shrubs leaves mostly 5-10 cm × 7-11 mm, coriaceous, straight or slightly curved, oval-linear (widest at midpoint) to linear, tapering to a petiolate base and an obtuse apex. Midrib prominent on adaxial (upper) side, 1-1.2 mm wide, flat on abaxial side. Leaves bright lustrous green above, dull light green below. Stomata in two bands on abaxial side. Pollen cones from clustered buds in axils of leaves or below these, sessile, in groups of 1-3, subtended by small, rounded, imbricate bud scales, cylindrical, 10-20 × 3 mm, yellow turning brown; microsporophylls imbricate, peltate, with erose-denticulate margins, minutely apiculate, bearing two basal, globose pollen sacs. Seed cones axillary and solitary on slender, 7-15 mm Iong peduncles; receptacle subtended by two small bracts, growing to 6-10 mm long, swelling to 5-6 mm thick, maturing to red or red-brown. Seeds including the epimatium relatively large, 10-15 × 7-9 mm, obliquely ovoid with a faint crest, smooth, olive green turning brown. Seed ovoid, smooth, ca. 9 × 6 mm (Farjon 2010).
This species closely resembles P. lucienii, but that species has blunt bud scale tips, and mostly individual (rather than clustered) pendent pollen cones, and its bark lacks the reddish-brown color of P. sylvestris (de Laubenfels 1960). The leaves of P. lucienii are wider and terminate more abruptly at both ends, even on juvenile plants; the seeds are also larger, and the receptacles are on longer peduncles (Farjon 2010).
New Caledonia (de Laubenfels 1972), both Grand Terre and Île des Pins, at elevations of 150 to 1200 m, mostly on ultramafic substrates but on mica schist in eastern parts of the northern Grande Terre. It grows as a scattered tree in the tropical evergreen rainforests; it is also found in wooded ravines and, at high altitude, in vegetation bordering on the ultramafic shrublands called maquis minier. In the maquis, and at high altitudes, it becomes a shrub or shrubby tree, whereas in well-developed rainforest it can reach 30 m tall. Besides numerous angiosperms, it is sometimes associated with Araucaria spp. and Agathis spp. (Farjon 2010).
This map shows herbarium records of Podocarpus species native to New Caledonia. Red is P. decumbens, dark green is P. gnidioides, orange is P. longifolioliatus, yellow is P. lucienii, purple is P. novae-caledoniae, green is P. polyspermus, and blue is P. sylvestris. Click on an icon for further information. Distribution data from GBIF (2020.03.30), edited to remove duplicates.
Based on data from 54 collection localities, it grows at elevations of 420 ±230 m. Within its range, mean annual temperature is 21°C, with an average minimum in the coldest month of 14°C, and a mean annual precipitation of 1690 mm (Biffin et al. 2011, Table S5).
The IUCN reports that the population status is stable.
Formerly, it was logged, and the wood used for construction, carpentry, flooring and furniture, sometimes sold under the name "false kauri." This exploitation has largely ceased and most surviving plants are protected. There is also some horticultural use within New Caledonia (Farjon 2010).
The epithet simply means "of the forest."
Buchholz, J. T. 1949. Additions to the coniferous flora of New Caledonia. Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. (Paris), Sér. 2, 21(2):279–286. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2020.02.10.
Association Endemia, a site devoted to New Caledonian species. Has excellent photos, a range map, and other information. In French.
Gray, Netta E. 1958. A Taxonomic Revision of Podocarpus, XI. The South Pacific Species of Section Podocarpus, Subsection B. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 39:446. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2023.01.08.
Last Modified 2023-02-26
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