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Project Noah Nature School
Lagarostrobos franklinii
Huon pine or Macquarie pine is actually a podocarp (Podocarpaceae) not a true pine (Pinaceae) It is a slow growing, but long-lived tree; some living specimens of this tree are in excess of 2000 years in age. It grows to 10 to 20 m tall, exceptionally reaching 30 m, with arching branches and pendulous branchlets. The leaves are spirally arranged, very small and scale-like, 1 to 3 mm long, covering the shoots completely. It is dioecious, with male (pollen) and female (seed) cones on separate plants. Tasmanian endemic.
Temperate rainforest, the Pieman riverbank.
The female.tree is in the first three photos, and the male tree is in photos four and five. The last photo shows the cut and polished stump of a several hundred year old tree. The female tree is probably at least 500 years old. These two trees probably escaped the extensive logging for Huon pines wood in this area by being poorly shaped for timber.
Spotted on Jun 12, 2010
Submitted on Oct 13, 2010
5 Comments
Hi Argy. When I put up this spotting, we could only enter one photo, so I picked the "best" one.
I've added two more photos of the female tree, and two of the male. According to our river guide, who pointed these two out, the female trees drape more and have a yellower hue.
You are welcome Leuba. Come back and take a boat trip on the Pieman river (dress warmly).
Lori.tas.. how do male and female differ?
My husband took me to Tassie to show me a Huon pine tree ( by the Huon river). unfortunately the specimens we saw were not half as good as the one in your photo. Thanks lori.tas
Best tree in the world. I'll put up a closer pic.
Huon Pine (a podocarp)