Dacrydium lycopodioides

Brongniart et Grisebach 1869

Common names

Mou (Silba 1986).

Taxonomic notes

Description

"Tree, heavily branched, reaching heights of 25 m or occasionally more. Bark in brown layers, fibrous and light colored inside, the surface more or less smooth and covered in many small lenticels. Juvenile leaves acicular, very thin, 10 mm long, gradually becoming adult leaves. Adult leaves flat, lanceolate, slight keeled on the dorsal side with a clear ridge on the axial side, thorny, spreading out and curved so that the apices are parallel with the branch, 3-4.5 mm by 0.7-0.8 mm. Pollen cone terminal and often also lateral at the base of a terminal pollen cone, cylindrical, 4-7 mm long and 1.2 mm in diameter. Microsporophylls triangular, slightly longish, sharp and imbricate. Seed cone terminal, often on a short shoot, leaves just below the seed cone very small compared to normal leaves, sometimes only 1 mm long. Cone bracts very large and partially covering the epimatium, normally only 1 fertile bract. Seed partially erect and completely visible, a shiny chocolate brown, oval and tapering off to a blunt point, 3-3.5 mm long" (de Laubenfels 1972).

Distribution and Ecology

New Caledonia: At elevations of 900-1400 m in "ombrophilous forests on the southern part of the main island" (de Laubenfels 1972). Within its range, mean annual temperature is 19.0°C, with an average minimum in the coldest month of 12.4°C, and a mean annual precipitation of 1899 mm (Biffin et al. 2011, Table S5).

This map shows herbarium records of Dacrydium species native to New Caledonia. Blue is D. araucarioides, green is D. balansae, orange is D. guillauminii, and red is D lycopodioides. Click on an icon for further information. Distribution data from GBIF (2020.03.30), edited to remove duplicates.

Collections are recorded from the following locales (de Laubenfels 1972):

• Mt. Mou (13 records)
• Ridge above river Ouinné, 800-1000 m (3 records)
• Mt. Humboldt, 1400 m

The IUCN reports that the population status is stable.

Remarkable Specimens

No data as of 2023.02.21.

Ethnobotany

No data as of 2023.02.21.

Observations

No data as of 2023.02.21.

Remarks

"No other species is closely affiliated with D. lycopodioides but in general resembles in appearance other New Caledonian conifers. Dacrydium spathoides from New Guinea is somewhat related to this species by also having flattened leaves" (de Laubenfels 1972).

Citations

Brongniart, A.T. and Grisebach, A.H.R. 1869. Bull. Soc. Bot. France 16: 329.

Thanks to Ferenc Kiss for translating de Laubenfels from the French (2003.12).

See also

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

Brongniart, A.T. and Grisebach, A.H.R. 1871. Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. Paris, ser. 5, 13: 345.

Compton, R.H. 1922. Journal of the Linnaean Society 45: 427.

Dallimore, W. and A.B. Jackson. 1923. Handbook Coniferae, p. 31.

de Laubenfels (1969).

Pilger, R.K.F. 1903. In Engler, Pflanzenreich 4(5): 52.

Sarlin. 1954. Bois et Forêts Nouvelle Calédonie, p. 91 and pl. 18.

Stockey, R.A. and H. Ko. 1990. Cuticle micromorphology of Dacrydium (Podocarpaceae) from New Caledonia. Botanical Gazette 151(1): 138-149.

White, 1926. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 7: 80.