''Libocedrus austrocaledonica'' is a species of ''

Libocedrus ''Libocedrus'' is a genus of five species of coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to New Zealand and New Caledonia. The genus is closely related to the South American genera ''Pilgerodendron'' and '' Austrocedrus'', and ...

'',

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to New Caledonia, occurring mainly in the southern half of the island (also one site in the northern half), at 750–1,400 m altitude in montane cloud forest scrub.Farjon, A. (2005). ''Monograph of Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys''. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

coniferous shrub (rarely a small

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

) growing to 2–6 m tall, often multi-stemmed, with trunks up to 10 cm diameter. The foliage is arranged in strongly flattened sprays; the leaves are scale-like, arranged in opposite decussate pairs on the shoots; the facial leaves are 1–2 mm long and 1 mm broad, and the lateral leaves markedly larger, 3–7 mm long and 1.5–3 mm broad. The

seed cones A conifer cone (in formal botanical usage: strobilus, plural strobili) 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 an ...

are cylindrical, 10–12 mm long, with four scales each with a prominent curved spine-like bract; they are arranged in two opposite decussate pairs around a small central columella; the outer pair of scales is small and sterile, the inner pair large, each bearing two winged

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

s. They are mature about six to eight months after pollination. The pollen cones are 5–8 mm long.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3017493 austrocaledonica Conservation dependent plants Endemic flora of New Caledonia Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Plants described in 1871 Taxa named by Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart Taxa named by Jean Antoine Arthur Gris