North Island: In forests from Mongonui southwards to Hawke's Bay and Taranaki, but often rare and local. Sea-level to 2000 ft. Kawaka; New Zealand Arbor-vitæ.
Wood dark-red, beautifully grained, said to be durable, but on account of its scarcity little used. Very young seedlings have narrow linear-subulate leaves spreading on all sides, but these soon pass into the quadrifarious stage.
2. L. Bidwillii, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 257.—Very similar to L. Doniana, but usually smaller, seldom more than 50 ft. high, with a trunk 1½–3 ft. diam., in subalpine or cool peaty localities often reduced to a fastigiate bush or small tree 10–20 ft. high. Branchlets of young trees closely resembling those of L. Doniana, but rather narrower; of mature trees tetragonous, 115–112 in. diam., densely clothed with almost uniform triangular acute closely appressed leaves. Female cones like those of L. Doniana, but smaller, ¼–⅓ in. long.—Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 83.
North and South Islands: From Te Aroha Mountain and Mount Egmont southwards to Foveaux Strait, not uncommon in hilly or mountain forests. 800–4000 ft. Pahautea; Cedar.
Often confounded with the previous species, but the obviously tetragonous branchlets of the mature tree, with almost uniform leaves, are characteristic and readily distinguish it. Wood soft, red, straight in the grain, easily split, and apparently of great durability, but of low specific gravity and somewhat brittle.
3. PODOCARPUS, L'Herit.
Trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate or opposite, scattered or imbricate or distichous, very diverse in size and shape. Flowers diœcious or rarely monœcious; males solitary or in fascicles of 2–5, or laxly spicate along an elongated rhachis, usually stipitate, the stipes furnished with imbricate bracts. Staminal column elongate, cylindric; anthers sessile, densely spirally crowded; cells 2, parallel, dehiscing longitudinally; connective usually prolonged into a short claw. Female flowers solitary or occasionally geminate, very rarely spicate; bracts or scales few, adnate with the rhachis into a swollen fleshy or succulent peduncle or "receptacle"; ovuliferous scale springing from the receptacle, ovoid, fleshy, bearing a single reversed ovule. Seeds globose or ovoid, seated on the enlarged receptacle, drupaceous or nut-like. Cotyledons 2.
About 60 species are known, scattered through the tropical and subtropical regions of the Old World, from Japan and China southwards to New Zealand and South Africa, also in most parts of South America; wanting in Europe, North America, North Africa, and western Asia. The New Zealand species are all endemic.
| A. Flowers axillary. | |
| * Male flowers solitary or 2–4 at the tip of a common peduncle. | |
| Tree 40–100 ft.; bark thick. Leaves ½–1 in., linear, rigid and coriaceous, pungent. Male flowers subsessile. Nut small, obtuse | 1. P. Totara. |
