''Microcachrys tetragona'', the creeping pine or creeping strawberry pine, is a species of

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

belonging to the podocarp family ( Podocarpaceae).Christopher N. Page. 1990. "Podocarpaceae" pages 332-346. In: Klaus Kubitzki (general editor); Karl U. Kramer and Peter S. Green (volume editors) ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' volume I. Springer-Verlag: Berlin;Heidelberg, Germany. It is the sole species of the genus ''Microcachrys''.James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. ''Conifers of the World''. Timber Press: Portland, OR, USA. . The plant is endemic to western Tasmania, where it is a low

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

growing to 1 m tall at high altitudes. Its

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are scale-like, arranged (unusually for the Podocarpaceae) in opposite

decussate Decussation is used in biological contexts to describe a crossing (due to the shape of the Roman numeral for ten, an uppercase 'X' (), ). In Latin anatomical terms, the form is used, e.g. . Similarly, the anatomical term chiasma is named aft ...

pairs, superficially resembling those of the unrelated '' Diselma archeri'' (

Cupressaceae Cupressaceae is a conifer family, the cypress family, with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27–30 genera (17 monotypic), which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130–140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdio ...

). It shares the

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

Creeping pine with several other plants. Females produce tiny, red, edible berries in summer. Microcachrys tetragona coniferous heath

Fossil record and paleoendemism

''Microcachrys'' has been called one of the most spectacular cases of

paleoendemism Paleoendemism along with neoendemism is a possible subcategory of endemism. Paleoendemism refers to species that were formerly widespread but are now restricted to a smaller area. Neoendemism refers to species that have recently arisen, such as thro ...

. It is a known relictual plant, being widespread in the past but now having a very restricted distribution. The only extant species today, ''Microcachrys tetragona'', produces a very distinctive pollen grain compared with other members of its family, Podocarpaceae, and records of fossil pollen from the genus have been recorded from all over the Southern Hemisphere throughout the

Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configura ...

, being found in Antarctica, Australia, the now sunken islands of the Ninetyeast Ridge of the Indian Ocean, New Zealand, southern Africa and South America. Ocean drillings in the Kerguelen Plateau near Heard Island have revealed conifer remains with twigs very similar in appearance to those of ''Microcharys.'' The genus ''Microcachrys'' clearly had a very broad, Gondwanic distribution. But now, the sole surviving species, ''Microcachrys tetragona'', is a shrub restricted to Tasmanian mountain thickets and boulder-fields.Carpenter, Raymond J., et al. "Leaf fossils of the ancient Tasmanian relict Microcachrys (Podocarpaceae) from New Zealand." American Journal of Botany 98.7 (2011): 1164-1172 The fossil record of ''Microcachrys'' is one of many compelling lines of evidence which points to the highly dynamic and changing Southern Hemisphere vegetation through the Cenozoic since the break up of Gondwana.

References

External links

Microcachrys
At

At
The Gymnosperm Database
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q14947387, from2=Q136688 Dioecious plants Flora of Tasmania Endemic flora of Tasmania Monotypic conifer genera Podocarpaceae genera Podocarpaceae