Actinostrobus

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Actinostrobus
Actinostrobos arenarius fruits murchison.JPG
Actinostrobus arenarius
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Cupressaceae
Subfamily: Callitroideae
Genus: Actinostrobus
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Species

See text

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

Species

There are three species in the genus, all endemic to southwestern Western Australia:

ImageNameCommon nameDistribution
Actinostrobus acuminatus Dwarf cypress, Creeping pine, Moore cypress pine [1] southwestern Western Australia
Actinostrobos arenarius habit murchison orig.JPG Actinostrobus arenarius Sandplain-cypress [1] Western Australia
Actinostrobus pyramidalis - Flickr - Kevin Thiele.jpg Actinostrobus pyramidalis Swan river cypress, Swamp cypress, Western Australian swamp cypress, King George's cypress pine [1] southwestern Western Australia

A 2010 study of Actinostrobus and Callitris has placed all three species of Actinostrobus within an expanded Callitris based on analysis of 42 morphological and anatomical characters. [2]

They are shrubs or small trees, reaching 3–8 m (9.8–26.2 ft) tall. The leaves are evergreen, of two forms; juvenile needle-like leaves 10–20 mm (0.39–0.79 in) long on young seedlings (but occasional into adulthood in A. acuminatus), and scale-like adult leaves, 2–8 mm (0.079–0.315 in) long with only the apex free. The leaves are arranged in six rows along the twigs, in alternating whorls of three.

The male cones are small, 3–6 mm (0.12–0.24 in) long, and are located at the tips of the twigs. The female cones start out similarly inconspicuous, maturing in eighteen to twenty months to 10–20 mm (0.39–0.79 in) long and wide, globular to acute-ovoid, with six thick, woody scales, arranged in two whorls of three, and a further nine to fifteen thin, sterile basal scales. The cones remain closed on the trees for many years, opening only after being scorched by a bushfire; this then releases the seeds to grow on the newly cleared burnt ground.

The closest relative of Actinostrobus is Callitris , which is much more widespread, occurring in most of Australia, and differs in its cones lacking the basal whorls of small sterile scales.

The wood of Actinostrobus is light, soft and aromatic, but the plants are too small for any significant use. They are occasionally planted as ornamental shrubs, but their use is restricted by the high risks imposed by their very high flammability in bushfires.

Related Research Articles

Cypress list of plants with the same or similar names

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).

Cupressaceae The cypress family of conifers

Cupressaceae is a conifer family, the cypress family, with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27–30 genera, which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130–140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdioecious or (rarely) dioecious trees and shrubs up to 116 m (381 ft) tall. The bark of mature trees is commonly orange- to red- brown and of stringy texture, often flaking or peeling in vertical strips, but smooth, scaly or hard and square-cracked in some species.

<i>Cupressus</i> Several genera of evergreen conifers

Cupressus is one of several genera of evergreen conifers within the family Cupressaceae that have the common name cypress; for the others, see cypress. It is considered a polyphyletic group. Based on genetic and morphological analysis, the genus Cupressus is found in the subfamily Cupressoideae. The common name "cypress" comes via the Old French cipres from the Latin cyparissus, which is the latinisation of the Greek κυπάρισσος (kypárissos).

<i>Platycladus</i> Genus of conifers

Platycladus is a monotypic genus of evergreen coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae, containing only one species, Platycladus orientalis, also known as Chinese thuja, Oriental arborvitae, Chinese arborvitae, biota or Oriental thuja. It is native to northeastern parts of East Asia and North Asia, but is also now naturalised as an introduced species in other regions of the Asian continent.

<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>Juniperus oxycedrus</i> Species of plant

Juniperus oxycedrus, vernacularly called Cade, cade juniper, prickly juniper, prickly cedar, or sharp cedar, is a species of juniper, native across the Mediterranean region from Morocco and Portugal, north to southern France, east to westernmost Iran, and south to Lebanon and Israel, growing on a variety of rocky sites from sea level up to 1600 m elevation. The specific epithet oxycedrus means "sharp cedar" and this species may have been the original cedar or cedrus of the ancient Greeks.

<i>Tetraclinis</i> Genus of conifers

Tetraclinis is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae, containing only one species, Tetraclinis articulata, also known as Thuja articulata, sandarac, sandarac tree or Barbary thuja, endemic to the western Mediterranean region. It is native to northwestern Africa in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, with two small outlying populations on Malta, and near Cartagena in southeast Spain. It grows at relatively low altitudes in a hot, dry subtropical Mediterranean climate.

<i>Widdringtonia</i> Genus of conifers

Widdringtonia is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae. The name was Austrian botanist Stephan Endlicher's way of honouring an early expert on the coniferous forests of Spain, Capt. Samuel Edward Cook or Widdrington (1787-1856). There are four species, all native to southern Africa, where they are known as cedars or African cypresses.

<i>Austrocedrus</i> Species of plant

Austrocedrus is a genus of conifer belonging to the cypress family (Cupressaceae). It has only one species, Austrocedrus chilensis, native to the Valdivian temperate rain forests and the adjacent drier steppe-forests of central-southern Chile and western Argentina from 33°S to 44°S latitude. It is known in its native area as ciprés de la cordillera or cordilleran cypress, and elsewhere by the scientific name as Austrocedrus, or sometimes as Chilean incense-cedar or Chilean cedar. The generic name means "southern cedar".

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

Callitris pancheri is a plant species of the family Cupressaceae. It is endemic to New Caledonia, where it occurs in small, scattered population along rivers. It used to be placed in its own genus Neocallitropsis but molecular phylogenetic analysis indicated that it was nested within Callitris.

<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-pine, Murray River Cypress-pine, and Northern Cypress-pine. Callitris columellaris has become naturalised in Hawaii and in southern Florida.

Actinostrobus acuminatus, commonly known as dwarf cypress, creeping pine or Moore 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, where it can be found along the shorelines of rivers. The Mount Henry Peninsula is an example of the environment in which this cypress is found. It shares the common name dwarf cypress with several other plants, and shares the name creeping pine with others.

<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.

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>Juniperus monosperma</i> Species of conifer

Juniperus monosperma is a species of juniper native to western North America, in the United States in Arizona, New Mexico, southern Colorado, western Oklahoma (Panhandle), and western Texas, and in Mexico in the extreme north of Chihuahua. It grows at 970–2300 m altitude.

<i>Juniperus standleyi</i> Species of conifer

Juniperus standleyi is a species of juniper native to Guatemala and the adjacent extreme southeast of Mexico, where it occurs at elevations of 3,000–4,250 m. Its local common names include huitó, cipres, and huitum.

<i>Libocedrus bidwillii</i> Species of conifer

Libocedrus bidwillii, also called pāhautea, kaikawaka or New Zealand cedar, is a species of Libocedrus, endemic to New Zealand. It is in the cypress family Cupressaceae.

Libocedrus chevalieri is a species of conifer in the cypress family, Cupressaceae. It is endemic to New Caledonia, occurring in three small, isolated populations on low mountain summits at 650–1,620 m altitude in cloud forest scrub on serpentine soils. It is threatened by habitat loss.

<i>Glyptostrobus europaeus</i> Extinct species of conifer

Glyptostrobus europaeus is an extinct conifer species of the family Cupressaceae that is found as fossils throughout the Northern Hemisphere. The sole living species of Glyptostrobus was described from China in 1926. The name of the genus comes from the Greek "glypto" meaning grooved or carved, and "strobilus" meaning cone. The species name "europaeus" refers to the fact that it was first described from Europe.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Eckenwalder, J.E. 2009. Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference. Timber Press.
  2. Piggin, J.; Bruhl, J.J. (2010), "Phylogeny reconstruction of Callitris Vent. (Cupressaceae) and its allies leads to inclusion of Actinostrobus within Callitris", Australian Systematic Botany, 23 (2): 69–93, doi:10.1071/SB09044