The Gymnosperm Database

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"D. part of branchlet with leaves and poorly developed fruits, E. ripe fruit, F. male cone, G. microsporophyll" (Van Royen 1979).

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Distribution of the four varieties of Dacrycarpus imbricatus, redrawn from de Laubenfels (1988).

 

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Dacrycarpus imbricatus var. robustus

de Laub. 1969

Common names

Borneo: pierur (Kelabit, on Sarawak); Philippines: tupi (Cotabato, on Mindanao); New Guinea: apé (Kapauko, near Wissel Lakes), bètjeia (Arfak and Hattam), daru (Chimbu), gubin (Hagen, Togoba), iljo (Enga), jamari (Wandammen, in Wondiwoi Mts.), kaibelpiti (Waghi and Minj), kobim, kubin (Togoba), kowi (Manikiong), lou, low (Merimanta, Wabag), nijoop (Kebar), pau (Enga, Merimanta, Wabag), paupeepeen (Mt Ne), pulaley (Wagau), tinubidi (Mendi, in Anga Valley), toromoai (Dojo), uba, umba (Chimbu, Masul, Waimambuno) (Van Royen 1979, de Laubenfels 1988).

Taxonomic notes

Syn: Podocarpus imbricatus sensu Foxworthy 1911;Podocarpus papuanus Ridley 1916; Podocarpus javanica sensu Merr. 1921; Podocarpus cupressina sensu Lane-Poole 1925; Dacrycarpus papuana (Ridley) Gaussen 1974; D. steupii (non de Laub.) de Laub. 1978 (de Laubenfels 1988).

Description

"Tree, 5-45 m tall, 5-130 cm diam. Adult foliage leaves like var. patulus but distinctly more robust, 1.2-1.8 by 0.6-0.8 mm. Involucral leaves to 3 mm long and spreading or in some areas to 5 mm and more or less clasping the receptacle" (de Laubenfels 1988).

For purposes of comparison, I also present the description from Van Royen (1979), which particularly applies to the New Guinea populations: "Trees up to 33 m, bole up to 6 m and 100 cm across, crown spreading, consisting of stiff upright twigs. Bark black, brown or grey-brown, slightly to strongly, sometimes irregularly scaly, often flaking in horizontal thin strips, middle bark wine red, inner pink. Wood brown or white, or orangish straw coloured. Leaves midgreen or more or less glaucous, glabrous, bilaterally flattened and tetrastichous when young, sublinear, 10-17 by 1.2-2.2 mm, older leaves bifacially flattened, lanceolate, 2-4 by 0.7-1 mm, mucronate, rarely the older leaves bilaterally flattened and 3-5 by 0.6-0.8 mm, in older trees more or less scale-like, 1-1.8 mm long, not flattened nor tetrastichous, acute, crested on underside. Male strobili lateral or rarely terminal, on 1-3 mm long brachyblasts, at first ellipsoid, later cylindric, 6-12 by 2-2.5 mm, microsporophylls 2-4 mm long, at tip triangular, acute to apiculate. Female cones terminal, often on a brachyblast with elongate leaves below receptacle, these acicular, up to 4 mm long, needle-pointed, spreading. Receptacle glaucous, obovoid, 3-4 by 1-2.5 mm, warty. Fruits green with bluish tinge when ripe, ultimately red, (sub-)globose, 5-6 by 4-6 mm, more or less ribbed dorsally with a rounded crest" (Van Royen 1979).

Distribution and Ecology

Borneo (Sarawak), Philippines (Luzon, Mindanao), Moluccas (Morotal, Ceram), and New Guinea (de Laubenfels 1988). "Scattered and, in New Guinea, very common in primary and secondary rain-forest, canopy tree, or sometimes emergent, often co-dominant, in mossy forest associated with Nothofagus and Phyllocladus, also in Lithocarpus-Castanopsis mixed forest co-dominant, (500-)700-3000 m, a specimen from Borneo reported from 240 m."

In New Guinea, regionally distributed as follows (from Van Royen 1979):

"WNG. Kebar Valley, Mt Nettoti, Ransiki, Mt Saroe, Mt Antop, Hatam, Arfak Mts, Angi Lakes area, Wissel Lakes area, Bandarong River, Otomona Valley, Mt Doorman, Mt Goliath, Hellwig Mts, Cycloop Mts area, Idenburg River area, Bele River, Star Mts.

"TNG. Wabag area, Lake Inim, Mt Kum, Mt Hagen area, Nondugl area, Kubor Range, Keglsugl - Mt Wilhelm area, Daulo camp, Marafunga area, Okapa area, Sarawakat Range, Rawlinson Range, Edie Creek track, Wau - Mubo track, Wagau.

"PAPUA. Kagoba, Mt Ne, Mt Kerewa, Boridi, Alola, Mt Simpson, Wharton Range, Mt Scratchley, Mt Tafa, Owen Stanley Range, Mt Suckling, Sibium Range, Mt Mau, Mt Dayman.

"A tree of the upper lowland zone to the subalpine regions, fairly common but scattered in the forest, in the subalpine shrubberies often emergent over the rest of the vegetation, 500-3720 m. Flowers the whole year round".

Remarkable Specimens

No data as of 2023.02.21.

Ethnobotany

Observations

Remarks

"Note. Specimens from Borneo and the Philippines have been identified as D. steupii where the foliage leaves fall within the size range of this species because in these areas the distichous habit is lost rather early causing the foliage to resemble D. steupii closely. Unlike D. steupii, however, the leaves range to the smaller sizes of D. imbricatus. The involucral leaves in these areas, unlike elsewhere in D. imbricatus, are at least 5 mm long and curved upward. Perhaps this material represents a distinct variety" (de Laubenfels 1988).

Citations

See also

Last Modified 2023-02-26