''Phyllocladus'', the celery pines, is a small

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

conifers 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 ext ...

, now usually treated in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Podocarpaceae Podocarpaceae is a large family of mainly Southern Hemisphere conifers, known in English as podocarps, comprising about 156 species of evergreen trees and shrubs.James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. ''Conifers of the World''. Portland, Oregon: Timber P ...

.James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. ''Conifers of the World''. Timber Press: Portland, OR, USA. .'' ''Species occur mainly in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, and Malesia in the Southern Hemisphere, though '' P. hypophyllus ''ranges into the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, a short way north of the

equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can also ...

Characteristics

They are small to medium-sized

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 ...

s, reaching 10–30 m tall, or sometimes small

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 tree ...

s. The main structural shoots are green for 2–3 years, then turn brown as the bark thickens. The

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

are sparse, tiny, scale-like, 2–3 mm long, and only green (

photosynthetic Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism's activities. Some of this chemical energy is stored in ...

) for a short time, soon turning brown. Most photosynthesis is performed by highly modified, leaf-like short shoots called

phylloclade Phylloclades and cladodes are flattened, photosynthetic shoots, which are usually considered to be modified branches. The two terms are used either differently or interchangeably by different authors. '' Phyllocladus'', a genus of conifer, is nam ...

s; these develop in the axils of the scale leaves, and are simple or compound (depending on species). Simple phylloclades are rhombic, 2–5 cm long, and compound phylloclades are up to 20 cm long and subdivided into five to 15 leaflet-like phylloclades 1–3 cm long. The seed cones are

berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, rasp ...

-like, similar to those of several other Podocarpaceae genera, notably '' Halocarpus'' and '' Prumnopitys'', with a fleshy white

aril An aril (pronounced ), also called an arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode or false aril is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the see ...

; the seeds are dispersed by

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s, which digest the soft, fleshy aril as they pass the hard seeds in their droppings. Tanekaha Kahuroa.jpg, Phylloclades of '' P. trichomanoides'' Celery Top Pine.jpg, A seedling of '' P. aspleniifolius'' with needle-like juvenile leaves Phyllocladus alpinus Governors Bush Walk Mount Cook 1.JPG, Pollen cones of ''P. alpinus'' Phyllocladus aspleniifolius (Celery-top pine) cones (8711563882).jpg, Seed cones of ''P. aspleniifolius''

Taxonomy

''Phyllocladus'' is sufficiently morphologically distinct from the other Podocarpaceae genera that some botanists have treated them separately in their own family, Phyllocladaceae.Christopher N. Page. 1990. "Phyllocladaceae" pages 317-319. 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. However, while at least one

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

analysis found ''Phyllocladus'' to be

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a family, familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...

to ''Podocarpus'' ''

sensu stricto ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular c ...

'' William T. Sinclair, R. R. Mill, M. F. Gardner, P. Woltz, T. Jaffré, J. Preston, M. L. Hollingsworth, A. Ponge, and M. Möller. 2002. "Evolutionary relationships of the New Caledonian heterotrophic conifer, ''Parasitaxis usta'' (Podocarpaceae), inferred from chloroplast trnL-F intron/spacer and nuclear rDNA ITS2 sequences". ''Plant Systematics and Evolution'' 233(1-2):79-104. and another was equivocal on its position relative to Podocarpaceae

s.s. The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe duri ...

,Steven J. Wagstaff. 2004. "Evolution and biogeography of the austral genus ''Phyllocladus'' (Podocarpaceae)". ''Journal of Biogeography'' 31(10):1569-1577. two more recent molecular phylogenetic analyses have placed ''Phyllocladus'' within Podocarpaceae as a sister taxon to '' Lepidothamnus''.Ed Biffin, Timothy J. Brodribb, Robert S. Hill, Philip Thomas and Andrew J. Lowe. 2012. "Leaf evolution in Southern Hemisphere conifers tracks the angiosperm ecological radiation". ''Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ''279:341-348. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2011.0559.Patrick Knopf, Christian Schulz, Damon P. Little, Thomas Stutzel and Dennis W. Stevenson. 2012. "Relationships within Podocarpaceae based on DNA sequence, anatomical, morphological, and biogeographical data". ''Cladistics'' 28: 271–299. doi:10.1111/j.1096-0031.2011.00381.x Morphological analysis supports this placement, and therefore it has been suggested that the distinctive

s in the genus are a

synapomorphy In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to hav ...

. The five species are

genetically Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar working i ...

distinct, and probably arose between 5 and 7 million years ago.

Species

* '' Phyllocladus alpinus'' (''P. trichomanoides'' var. ''alpinus'') - mountain toatoa (

) * '' Phyllocladus aspleniifolius'' - celery-top pine (

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

) * '' Phyllocladus hypophyllus'' - Malesian celery-pine (

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and e ...

and

) * ''

Phyllocladus toatoa ''Phyllocladus toatoa'', known as toatoa (Māori) or blue celery pine is a species of conifer in the family Podocarpaceae, endemic to New Zealand. It was formerly referred to as ''P. glaucus''. Botanical description ''Phyllocladus toatoa'' ...

'' - toatoa (

) * '' Phyllocladus trichomanoides'' - tanekaha (

)

References

Sources

*Quinn, C. J. & Price, R. A. 2003. Phylogeny of the Southern Hemisphere Conifers. ''Proc. Fourth International Conifer Conference'': 129-136.

External links

Gymnosperm Database
- ''Phyllocladus'' {{Taxonbar, from=Q134249 Podocarpaceae Trees of New Zealand Podocarpaceae genera