photograph
Foliage (2).

photograph
Mature tree (2).

Podocarpus totara G. Benn. 1832

Common Names

Totara (1).

Taxonomic notes

Syn: P. totara D. Don 1842 (1).

Description

"Tree up to 30 m, trunk up to 2 m diameter, bark thick, stringy, furrowed. Leaves brownish to dark green; of juveniles ca. 2 cm × 1-2 mm; of adults 1.5-3 cm × 3-4 mm, linear-lanceolate, straight to slightly falcate, acute, pungent, coriaceous, patent, sessile by narrow base, midvein distinct or obscure. Male strobili 1-1.5 cm long, solitary or up to 4 together on a short peduncle, surrounded by broad rigid scales; apiculus small, obtuse, sparingly denticulate. Female branchlets axillary, ovules solitary or paired, peduncle 2-3 mm long; receptacle of 2-4 scales, acute and free at tips, usually red, swollen and succulent, occasionally dry. Seed subglobose when mature, or ovoid-oblong, 3-5 mm long, nutlike" (1).

Range

New Zealand: N & S Islands, in lowland, montane and lower subalpine forest (1).

More information on the lowland forests of New Zealand.

Big Tree

One at Gwavas Station, NZ is said to have a dbh of 700 cm (5), although it is possible that this is in fact its girth (pers. comm., Robert Van Pelt, Dec-1998). A tree called Pouakani, near Mangapeni in King Country, Southern Waikato (NZ), is 363 cm dbh and 39 m tall, while another at Pureora Forest Park (NZ) has a dbh 0f 333 cm and is 27 m tall (6).

Oldest

Dendrochronology

It does not appear that tree-ring chronologies have been constructed for the species. The species is subject to ring wedging. "Ring wedging occurs when rapid radial growth occurs over several years in certain segments of the tree's circumference, while being extremely slow or absent in others... Examination of complete cross sections can help overcome this problem, and for some species accurate age counts must be based on cross sections rather than increment cores" (4).

Ethnobotany

Commercially harvested for timber.

Observations

Said to be widespread in lowland tropical forest of Fiordland National Park, S Island, NZ (3).

Remarks

See also Paleobotany of Australia and New Zealand conifers.

Citations

(1) Allan 1961.
(2) NZ School of Forestry website.
(3) "Fiordland National Park," Britannica Online.
(4) Norton & Ogden 1990.
(5) International Dendrology Society Yearbook 1996. Page 86.
(6) Burstall & Sale.


[Podocarpus] [Podocarpaceae] [home]

This page is from the Gymnosperm Database
URL: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/2285/po/po/totara.htm
Edited by Christopher J. Earle
E-mail:earlecj@earthlink.net
Last modified on 19-Dec-98

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