Podocarpus dacrydioides A.Rich.
Half-hardy, vigorous, monoecious, evergreen tree with long, slender, drooping branchlets, clothed with narrow, two-ranked, bronze-green leaves, spirally arranged when mature, and small, reddish fruit. To 45m. [RHSD, Hortus, Hilliers’].
Horticultural & Botanical History
Described by Alan Cunningham in his Specimen of the Botany of the Islands of New Zealand. ‘New Zealand (Northern Island), swampy grounds on the margins of rivers, viz. the Thames, Kana Kana, and Hokianga. — 1826, A. Cunningham. (Middle Island), in marshy forests on the shores of Tasman’s Bay. — 1827, D’Urville.
A white pine of tall stately growth, exhibiting oftentimes a clear stem of eighty feet, and with its branched head attaining a height of 120 and 130 feet, the diameter of such trees exceeding five feet. Except for common canoes, in the construction of which it is employed by the natives on account of the great length of its trunk, its wood is seldom used, being of so soft and spongy a nature as to rot in a few months of exposure to the weather. It has been asserted that as for all the canoes made on Middle Island this timber is employed, so the Dammara or Kauri does not grow upon it. Certain it is, at least, that the latter noble tree has not been seen in its forests by voyagers.’ [Annals and Magazine of Natural History vol.1, p.213/1838].
History at Camden Park
Listed in all published catalogues [C.34/1843]. Probably grown from material collected by John Bidwill.
Notes
Published Jan 25, 2009 - 04:22 PM | Last updated Jul 29, 2010 - 05:01 PM
| Family | Podocarpaceae |
|---|---|
| Category | |
| Region of origin | New Zealand |
| Synonyms |
|
| Common Name | Kaihika, Kahikatea, White pine |
| Name in the Camden Park Record | Dacrydium excelsum - Kaikatea |
| Confidence level | high |
