Podocarpus decumbens

N.E. Gray 1955

Common names

Taxonomic notes

Description

"A prostrate mat forming shrub that only occurs in high-altitude maquis in areas of high precipitation" (Thomas 2009).

Distribution and Ecology

New Caledonia (de Laubenfels 1972), where known from only three sites in the southern island, in Montagne des Sources and on Mt Kouakoué. It grows in maquis (a shrub vegetation type) at 800 to 1,000 m elevations on ultramafic substrates. The area receives high precipitiion (Thomas 2009).

The IUCN reports that species is in decline, facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild due to an extremely limited distribution (known only from 3 sites with a total area of 8 km²). "Although all three sites are relatively inaccessible and within protected areas, they remain vulnerable to fires. The three subpopulations are regarded as severely fragmented due to their geographic and ecological isolation. In Montagne des Sources, recent fires have come close to destroying one subpopulation" (Thomas 2009).

Big tree

Oldest

Dendrochronology

Ethnobotany

Observations

Remarks

Citations

Gray, Netta E. 1955. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 36:202.

Thomas, P. 2009. Podocarpus decumbens. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.3. www.iucnredlist.org, accessed 2010.10.07.

See also

Association Endemia, a site devoted to New Caledonian species. Has excellent photos, a range map, and other information. In French.