Callitris gracilis

Last updated

Callitris gracilis
Callitris gracilis.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Gymnosperms
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Cupressales
Family: Cupressaceae
Genus: Callitris
Species:
C. gracilis
Binomial name
Callitris gracilis
R.Baker

Callitris gracilis, commonly known as native pine or slender cypress pine is a conifer in the family Cupressaceae, native to southern Australia.

Contents

Stems and leaves Callitris gracilis "leaves" close-up.jpg
Stems and leaves

Description

It is a broad conical tree growing up to 20m high. [1] The leaves are reduced to tiny structures which clasp the flexible green stems. [2] The tiny male and female flower structures occur on the same tree, with the male flowers capable of shedding huge clouds of pollen in winter. [2] The fruit is a woody globe-shaped cone, 2.5 - 4 cm diameter, with six thick segments that open at maturity to release papery-winged seeds. [3] The cones may persist on the tree for many years, and each one can hold up to 30 seeds. [4]

Taxonomy

Callitris gracilis was formerly included in Callitris preissii , but that name is now restricted to plants from the Perth area. [1]

Distribution and habitat

Callitris gracilis can be found in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. [4]

Ecology

Several species of parrot eat the maturing fruits. [2]

Uses

Indigenous people from some areas use the foliage to make infusions for the relief of coughs and colds, and to make smoke medicine. [4]

The tree was highly prized by European settlers for its straight trunk and termite-resistant wood. [2]

In cultivation they make attractive feature trees for large gardens or parks. [5] Seed should be stratified before sowing in late winter. [4] Once established, it becomes a long-lived and hardy evergreen tree. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conifer</span> Group of cone-bearing seed plants

Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta, also known as Coniferophyta or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All extant conifers are perennial woody plants with secondary growth. The great majority are trees, though a few are shrubs. Examples include cedars, Douglas-firs, cypresses, firs, junipers, kauri, larches, pines, hemlocks, redwoods, spruces, and yews. The division Pinophyta contains seven families, 60 to 65 genera, and more than 600 living species.

Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word cypress is derived from Old French cipres, which was imported from Latin cypressus, the latinisation of the Greek κυπάρισσος (kyparissos). Cypress trees are a large classification of conifers, encompassing the trees and shrubs from the cypress family (Cupressaceae) and many others with the word cypress in their common name. Many cypress trees have needle-like, evergreen foliage and acorn-like seed cones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow-tailed black cockatoo</span> Species of bird native to the south-east of Australia

The yellow-tailed black cockatoo is a large cockatoo native to the south-east of Australia measuring 55–65 cm (22–26 in) in length. It has a short crest on the top of its head. Its plumage is mostly brownish black and it has prominent yellow cheek patches and a yellow tail band. The body feathers are edged with yellow giving a scalloped appearance. The adult male has a black beak and pinkish-red eye-rings, and the female has a bone-coloured beak and grey eye-rings. In flight, yellow-tailed black cockatoos flap deeply and slowly, with a peculiar heavy fluid motion. Their loud, wailing calls carry for long distances. The whiteae is found south of Victoria to the East of South Australia and is smaller in size. The yellow-tailed black cockatoo is found in temperate forests and forested areas across south and central eastern Queensland to southeastern South Australia, including a very small population persisting in the Eyre Peninsula. Two subspecies are recognised, although Tasmanian and southern mainland populations of the southern subspecies xanthanotus may be distinct enough from each other to bring the total to three. Birds of subspecies funereus have longer wings and tails and darker plumage overall, while those of xanthanotus have more prominent scalloping.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conifer cone</span> Reproductive organ on conifers

A conifer cone or pinecone is a seed-bearing organ on gymnosperm plants. It is usually woody, ovoid to globular, including scales and bracts arranged around a central axis, especially in conifers and cycads. The cone of Pinophyta contains the reproductive structures. The woody cone is the female cone, which produces seeds. The male cone, which produces pollen, is usually herbaceous and much less conspicuous even at full maturity. The name "cone" derives from Greek konos, which also gave name to the geometric cone. The individual plates of a cone are known as scales. The umbo of a conifer cone refers to the first year's growth of a seed scale on the cone, showing up as a protuberance at the end of the two-year-old scale.

<i>Podocarpus</i> Genus of conifers in the family Podocarpaceae

Podocarpus is a genus of conifers, the most numerous and widely distributed of the podocarp family, the Podocarpaceae. The name comes from Greek πούς + καρπός. Podocarpus species are evergreen shrubs or trees, usually from 1 to 25 m tall, known to reach 40 m (130 ft) at times. The cones have two to five fused cone scales, which form a fleshy, berry-like, brightly coloured receptacle at maturity. The fleshy cones attract birds, which then eat the cones and disperse the seeds in their droppings. About 97 to 107 species are placed in the genus depending on the circumscription of the species.

<i>Callitris</i> Genus of conifers

Callitris is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae. There are 16 recognized species in the genus, of which 13 are native to Australia and the other three native to New Caledonia. Traditionally, the most widely used common name is cypress-pine, a name shared by some species of the closely related genus Actinostrobus.

<i>Actinostrobus</i> Genus of conifers

Actinostrobus is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae. Common names include cypress, sandplain-cypress and cypress-pine, the last of these shared by the closely related genus Callitris.

<i>Casuarina</i> Genus of trees

Casuarina is a genus of flowering plants in the family Casuarinaceae, and is native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and eastern Africa. Plants in the genus Casuarina are monoecious or dioecious trees with green, pendulous, photosynthetic branchlets, the leaves reduced to small scales arranged in whorls around the branchlets, the male and female flowers arranged in separate spikes, the fruit a cone containing grey or yellowish-brown winged seeds.

<i>Acacia pycnantha</i> Golden wattle of southeastern Australia

Acacia pycnantha, most commonly known as the golden wattle, is a tree of the family Fabaceae native to southeastern Australia. It grows to a height of 8 m (26 ft) and has phyllodes instead of true leaves. Sickle-shaped, these are between 9 and 15 cm long, and 1–3.5 cm wide. The profuse fragrant, golden flowers appear in late winter and spring, followed by long seed pods. Plants are cross-pollinated by several species of honeyeater and thornbill, which visit nectaries on the phyllodes and brush against flowers, transferring pollen between them. An understorey plant in eucalyptus forest, it is found from southern New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, through Victoria and into southeastern South Australia.

<i>Actinostrobus pyramidalis</i> Species of conifer

Actinostrobus pyramidalis, commonly known as swamp cypress, Swan River cypress and King George's cypress pine, is a species of coniferous tree in the Cupressaceae. Like the other species in the genus Actinostrobus, it is endemic to southwestern Western Australia.

<i>Callitris columellaris</i> Species of conifer

Callitris columellaris is a species of coniferous tree in the family Cupressaceae, native to most of Australia. Common names include white cypress, white cypress-pine, Murray River cypress-pine, and northern cypress-pine. Callitris columellaris has become naturalised in Hawaii and in southern Florida.

<i>Actinostrobus arenarius</i> Species of conifer

Actinostrobus arenarius is a species of conifer in the cypress family, Cupressaceae. Its common names include sandplain cypress, Bruce cypress, Bruce cypress-pine, and tamin. It is endemic to Western Australia.

<i>Callitris baileyi</i> Species of conifer

Callitris baileyi is a species of conifer in the family Cupressaceae. It is found only in Australia, more specifically Southeast Queensland. Its common English name is Bailey's cypress-pine. The name is dedicated to Australian botanist Frederick Manson Bailey, who was the first to collect specimens of this tree. Bailey's name is closely associated with much of the flora of Queensland and their elucidation in Southeastern Queensland. Over the past few decades the conifer has been severely threatened by habitat loss Fruiting for the species has been recorded year-round.

<i>Callitris endlicheri</i> Species of conifer

Callitris endlicheri, commonly known as the black cypress pine, is a species of conifer in the family Cupressaceae. It is found only in Australia, occurring in Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, and Victoria.

<i>Callitris macleayana</i> Species of conifer

Callitris macleayana is a species of conifer in the family Cupressaceae, endemic to Australia. The tree is commonly known as stringybark pine, as well as brush cypress pine and Port Macquarie pine, although it does not belong to the pine genus or family. Stringybark pine is found in two regions of Australia's East coast, one in the centre and one in the North.

<i>Callitris rhomboidea</i> Species of plant

Callitris rhomboidea, commonly known as the Oyster Bay pine, Tasmanian cypress pine, Port Jackson pine, Illawarra mountain pine, or dune cypress pine, is a species of conifer in the family Cupressaceae. It is native to Australia, occurring in South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. It has become naturalized near Auckland, New Zealand and can be found on the island of Taillefer Rocks in Tasmania.

Callitris roei, or Roe's cypress-pine, is a species of Callitris native to Australia, where it is endemic to southwestern Western Australia from Moora south to Albany and east to Cape Arid National Park.

<i>Callitris verrucosa</i> Species of plant

Callitris verrucosa, also known as the mallee pine, is a species of conifer in the family Cupressaceae. It is found only in Australia. The plant has a green/grey colour, rigid branches and can reach a height of 8 metres (26 ft). It has a slow grow rate.

<i>Allocasuarina verticillata</i> Species of plant

Allocasuarina verticillata, commonly known as drooping sheoak, is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a small dioecious tree that has drooping branchlets up to 400 mm (16 in) long, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of nine to thirteen, the mature fruiting cones 20–50 mm (0.79–1.97 in) long containing winged seeds 7–12 mm (0.28–0.47 in) long.

<i>Gymnostoma australianum</i> Species of tree in the family Casuarinaceae

Gymnostoma australianum, commonly known as the Daintree pine or Daintree oak, is a species of small tree which is endemic to a restricted area of the Daintree tropical rainforests region, within the Wet Tropics of north-eastern Queensland, Australia. It is a member of the plant family Casuarinaceae, often named she-oaks, members of which are characterised by drooping equisetoid evergreen foliage, and separate male and female flowers (unisexual). Superficially they look like well known scale–leaved gymnosperm trees species, such as Cupressus in the northern hemisphere and Callitris in the southern hemisphere.

References

  1. 1 2 "Callitris gracilis". VicFlora. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Bagust, Phil; Tout-Smith, Lynda (2010). The Native Plants of Adelaide (2nd ed.). Wakefield Press. p. 14. ISBN   978-1-86254-879-4.
  3. Prescott, Ann (2012). It's Blue With Five Petals - Wildflowers of the Adelaide Region (2nd ed.). Ann Prescott. p. 376. ISBN   978-0-646-59298-5.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Bonney, Neville (2021). From One Small Seed a Forest is Born. South Australia: Neville Bonney. p. 172. ISBN   978-0-6483900-3-9.
  5. "Callitris gracilis" (PDF). Urrbrae Wetland Learning Centre. Retrieved 24 June 2023.