Common Names
Cypress pine, Port Jackson pine, Oyster Bay Pine (3), dune cypress pine (4).Taxonomic notes
Syn: C. cupressiformis F. Mueller; C. tasmanica (Bentham) R. T. Baker and H. G. Smith; Frenela attenuata A. Cunningham; F. rhomboidea Endlicher; F. triquetra Spach; Cupressus australis Desfontaine; Thuja australis Poiret; T. articulata Tenore.(3).Description
Small tree 9-15 m tall, diameter 29-44 cm, with a narrow, dense head of branches divided into a mass of small, slender sprays. Leaves bright green or glaucous, 2-3 mm long, closely pressed to the branchlets throughout their length, keeled dorsally, terminating in a short point. Female cones usually clustered on fruiting branches, remaining long after maturity, globose to depressed-globose, 8-20 mm diameter, grey-brown; cone scales 6, thick, rhomboidal, smooth with a prominent, pointed central boss, alternate scales about half the size of the larger, larger scales broader above and abruptly angled into a short wide apex; columella mostly short, occasionally to 3 mm long, 3-lobed or with 3 separate parts. Seeds dark brown, rounded, small, with 2 very narrow wings (2, 3).Range
Australia: Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, & South Australia. Naturalized near Auckland, New Zealand (3). "Grows in woodland, on the coast and tablelands; widespread, but not common" (2).Big Tree
Oldest
Dendrochronology
Ethnobotany
"Timber used locally for buildings and poles, but not plentiful enough to be of any particular economic importance" (3).This is the most ornamental of the native cypresses. It is tolerant of poor soils and coastal conditions, but drought sensitive on shallow soils (4).
Observations
Remarks
Citations
(1) Silba 1986.(2) Harden 1990.
(3) Dallimore & Jackson 1967.
(4) http://ocean.fit.qut.edu.au/tsm/html/treetext.html.
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This page is from the Gymnosperm Database
URL: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/2285/cu/call/rhomboidea.htm
Edited by Christopher J. Earle
E-mail:earlecj@earthlink.com
Last modified on 18-Jan-1999