Microcachrys tetragona

Scientific name: Microcachrys tetragona J.Hooker  1845

Synonyms: Athrotaxis tetragona Hook., Dacrydium tetragonum (Hook.) Parl.

Common names:Creeping pine, Strawberry pine

Description

Low shrub, spreading to 1 (-2) m, though usually smaller. Bark yellowish brown to purplish brown, weathering brownish gray to dark brown. Crown flat, with crooked creeping branches hugging the ground and bearing numerous branchlets completely clothed with foliage. Branchlets horizontal to upright, partially arranged in comblike sprays, squared off or more rounded in cross section. Leaves bright green throughout or with a yellowish green base and a waxy white, rounded keel, 0.8-1.5 mm long (to 3 mm on main shoots), lasting 3 years or more. Pollen cones with yellow pollen sacs on yellowish brown scales, (2-)3-4.5 mm long, 1.5-2.5 mm in diameter. Seed cones bright red, nearly spherical or a little elongate, (2.5-)4-6(-8) mm long and 2.5-4(-6) mm in diameter, each seed enclosed for about a quarter of its length or more in the thin, red epimatium. Seeds black or brown, somewhat triangular in cross section, smooth, about 1-2 mm long.

Widespread in the western two-thirds of Tasmania, Australia. Often dominant in subalpine shrublands on substrates ranging from dry rocky fell fields to sodden peat lands; 1,000-1,350(-1,500) m.

Conservation Status

Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern

(This species is locally abundant and relatively widespread. In the absence of any evidence of decline, Microcachrys tetragona is assessed as Least Concern)

References

Farjon, A. (2010). A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.

Eckenwalder, J.E. (2009) Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference. Timber Press, Portland.

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Cambridge, UK /Gland, Switzerland

Copyright © Aljos Farjon, James E. Eckenwalder, IUCN, Conifers Garden. All rights reserved.