Barry Conn (NSW) & Kipiro Damas (LAE).
Guide to trees of Papua New Guinea
Copyright held by the authors, National Herbarium of New South Wales, and Papua New Guinea National Herbarium

Dacrydium novoguineense Gibbs

A Contribution to the Phytogeography and Flora of the Arfak Mountains 78 (1917) Fig. 3.

Other Literature: D.J. de Laubenfels, Flora Malesiana, Series 1 364 (1988)

Family: Podocarpaceae
Conifer

Timber Group: Occasional timber species

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (20-30 m high); Bole cylindrical (30-50 cm diam.); straight (bole 15-20 m long); buttresses buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark brown, rough or smooth, scaly or flaky, fissured, or pustular, lenticels rounded/swelling; Subrhytidome (under-bark) red; less than 25 mm thick; bark blaze consisting of one layer; outer blaze white, markings absent, fibrous; inner blaze white, markings absent, fibrous; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

Indumentum: Complex hairs absent; stinging hairs absent; mature twig indumentum (hairs) absent.

Leaves: Leaves spaced along branches (with branches ascending), spiral (leaves occurring singly at a node and arranged spirally up the branchlet), simple (a leaf composed of a single blade); petiole absent; leaves equally broad throughout much of length (juvenile leaves linear), 0.2-(c.; c. (adult leaves scale-like c. 2 mm long, appressed to branchlet); (juvenile leaves)-1.3 cm, 0.1-0.1 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, sub acute, venation parallel-veined, secondary veins closed, not visible, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface green (glossy (juvenile leaves), upper surface green (glossy (juvenile leaves), indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence terminal (usually on very short lateral shoots), flowers on an unbranched axis, flowers arranged in a cone (strobilus); flowers unisexual, unisexual with male and female flowers on different plants, not stalked, flowers with one plane of symmetry, 1.0-(pollen-bearing bract of male cone; pollen cone 5-8 mm long and c. 1.5 mm diam.); (seed-bearing bract of female cone)-3.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (0.5-1 mm diam.); perianth absent; ovary superior, carpels solitary, locules 1.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on unbranched axis, arrangement of fruits present, cone 6.0-8.0 mm, 5.0 mm, red; seeds 1, to about 5 mm long (c. 5 mm long), not winged, broad (as wide as long), seed 1-10 mm diam. (c. 5 mm diam.).

Distribution: West Sepik, Morobe (Cultivated), Western Highlands, Eastern Highlands & Western.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details