Actinostrobus description

Distribution of Actinostrobus (Bowman and Harris 1995). Basemap from Expedia Maps.

Actinostrobus Miquel 1845

Common Names

Cypress-pine (Silba 1986).

Taxonomic notes

Actinostrobus is assigned to the subfamily Actinostrobus, along with Diselma, Callitris and Widdringtonia (Gadek and Quinn 1993), a clearly Gondwanan group.

Description

"Monoecious shrubs with jointed branchlets. Buds inconspicuous. Juvenile leaves needle-like, 3-ranked. Mature leaves scale-like, small, in whorls of three, acutely pointed, sometimes with sparse resin spots, without prominent stomata. Male cones oblong or somewhat globular with stamens in whorls of 3-6 vertical columns. Female cones borne erect, ripening the first year, ovoid to globose; with six triangular, grooved, somewhat overlapping scale on a central axis; each scale bearing 1-2 triangular, 3-winged seeds; cone opens in the center upon maturity; the base of the cone surrounded by closely pressed, rounded bracts. Seeds tan, with even wings; seeds emit a yellowish dye if crushed. Cotyledons 2" (Silba 1986).

The following key to the species is provided by Hill (1998):

1:	Apex of female cone rounded	1. A. pyramidalis
1:	Apex of female cone acute
2:	Female cone c. as long as broad; tips of scales straight	2. A. arenarius
2:	Female cone c. 1.5 times as long as broad; tips of scales hooked	3. A. acuminatus

Range

Western Australia (Silba 1986).

Actinostrobus and Callitris constitute Australia's only arid region conifer genera, and it this sense they represent ecological analogues of the relatively unrelated northern hemisphere Juniperus. All three genera are, for the most part, scale-leaved shrubs and small trees that form dominant cover types in warm semiarid and arid environments.

Common Names

Taxonomic notes

Description

Range

Big Tree

Oldest

Dendrochronology

Ethnobotany

Observations

Remarks

See Also