Athrotaxis-cupressoides, Conifer
Athrotaxis cupressoides is a species of conifer in family Cupressaceae. It is endemic to Tasmania, Australia, growing in mountain rainforests at 700-1500 m above sea level. The genus name Athrotaxis is derived from two Greek words. Athros means crowded, and taxis meaning arrangement, in referrence to the overlapping arrangement of the leaves. The epithet cupressoides means resembling cypress in Greek. Athrotaxis cupressoides is a slow-growing evergreen coniferous tree commonly known as Pencil Pine. It can grow up to 10-20 m tall, with the trunk diameter up to 1 m. The spirally-arranged leaves are scale-like, 3–6 mm long and 2–3 mm wide. Athrotaxis cupressoides is a monoecious tree, having both the male and female cones on the same tree. The male or pollen cones are 3-5 mm long, while the female seed cones are globose, with 10–16 spirally-arranged scales, and 10-16 mm in diameter. The seed cones mature about 6 months after pollination. Athrotaxis cupressoides can live up to 1300 years.  Athrotaxis cupressoides Author: J Brew (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic) | ||
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