Distinguishing characteristics include: " seed virtually erect, oblong, rounded, finely striated, purple-black, glaucous; micropyle curved, indistinct; epimatium swollen, thickly fleshy; seed 4 mm x 2 mm" [J.H. Johns] (2).
Common Names
Manoao [Maori], silver pine (2), Westland pine, white silver pine (6).Taxonomic notes
The sole species in Manoao Molloy 1995. Syn: Dacrydium colensoi Hooker 1843, D. westlandicum T. Kirk ex Hook. 1887, Lagarostrobos colensoi Quinn 1982 (2, 5). Although Quinn's extensive revisions to the genus Dacrydium have been generally accepted by the taxonomic community in Australia and New Zealand, certain characters clearly distinguished the Huon pine (Lagarostrobos franklinii) from the Manoao even in Quinn's review, and these differences have been added to by results of subsequent studies of leaf flavonoid profiles, leaf cuticular morphology, and cone morphology and pollination mechanisms (cited in (2)). Briefly, the two species can be distinguished on the basis of numerous characters vegetative, reproductive, and chemical; and these differences are comparable in magnitude and number to those used to discriminate the other Dacrydium-like genera (Dacrydium, Falcatifolium, Halocarpus, Lagarostrobos and Lepidothamnus). Moreover, " Lagarostrobos franklinii and L. colensoi can be distinguished readily on the character-states of the female cone, the traditional basis for the recognition of genera within the Podocarpaceae" (2).Description
A conical tree 12-15 m tall and 45-75 cm in diameter, with a straight, clear trunk and slender branchlets. "Leaves of young plants lax, spreading, linear, [6-13 mm] long, gradually becoming shorter and more closely set with age and passing into the mature type, which has small, scale-like, densely overlapping leaves, pressed close to the branchlets, [1.2-2.5 mm] long, leathery, blunt, and often incurved at the apex, keeled on the back. Male strobili terminal, [3-5 mm] long. Seeds 1 - 2, oblong, obtuse, [2-4 mm] long, enclosed for a third or more of their length in a cup-shaped aril" (6). [A much lengthier description is available in (2)].Often confused with Halocarpus biformis, which differs in the juvenile foliage and stouter branchlets (6).
Range
New Zealand: "Confined to high-rainfall districts from North Cape to South Westland and Lake Te Anau, but is notably absent from large parts of the North Island, eastern South Island, Fiordland, and Stewart Island. Plants of M. colensoi occur on older, poorly drained surfaces with leached infertile soils, and in acid swamps and peats, notably the 'pakihi' lands of western South Island" (2).Big Tree
Oldest
Dendrochronology
Has seen limited application in a few dendroclimatic studies (3, 4).Ethnobotany
"Kirk describes the wood as straight and even in the grain, dense, firm, and compact, yet of low specific gravity; of great strength, toughness, and elasticity, shrinking little when seasoning, and taking a high polish. Mottled wood is highly prized for cabinets and furniture" (6). Before the arrival of the English, it was recognized by the Maori as exceptionally durable wood, and used accordingly (2).Observations
Remarks
See also Paleobotany of Australia and New Zealand conifers . The species was more widespread in the Pleistocene, especially in wetlands of Northland, South Auckland and Taranaki (2).This species is capable of reproduction by suckering (extension of underground stems). In waterlogged soils, the underground stems and roots contain aerenchyma (2), an adaptation to anoxic soil conditions that is also found in Taxodium and perhaps in other wetland-site conifers.
Trunks of this species "carry a heavy burden of lichens, mosses and liverworts whose fidelity and host-specificity are largely unknown. Silver pine also supports a ubiquitous fungal flora, especially sooty mould, and an insect fauna that includes undescribed gall-forming mites ( Arectis sp.), scale insects ( Eriochiton sp., Leucaspis sp.), and Lepidoptera ( Orthenches sp.)" (2).
Citations
(1) Silba 1986.(2) Molloy 1995.
(3) Norton & Palmer 1992.
(4) Search the Bibliography of Dendrochronology.
(5) Quinn 1982.
See also:
Kirk. 1889. Forest Flora of New Zealand (as Dacrydium westlandicum).
Hooker. 1843. Ic. P1., t. 548, not t. 544.
Manoao | Podocarpaceae | home
This page is from the Gymnosperm Database
URL: http://www.geocities.com/~earlecj/po/ma/index.htm
Edited by Christopher J. Earle
E-mail:
earlecj@conifers.org
Last modified on 12-Feb-2000