Scientific name: Podocarpus lawrencei J. Hooker 1845

Synonyms: Podocarpus alpinus var. lawrencei (Hook.f.) Hook.f., Podocarpus lawrencei subsp. errinundraensis Silba

Common names: Mountain plum pine, Plum pine, Alpine plum pine

Description

Spreading or upright shrub to 1(-4) m, without a single main trunk, or sometimes a tree to 6(-20) m tall, with a short, crooked trunk to 0.3(-0.7) m in diameter. Bark smooth to slightly furrowed, fibrous, peeling in thin strips. Crown variable, completely prostrate and hugging and spreading over rocks to dome-shaped, with slender, spreading to rising branches bearing somewhat irregularly distributed, stiffly spreading or upright branchlets densely clothed with foliage. Twigs yellowish green to waxy bluish green, visibly grooved between the attached leaf bases. Resting buds nearly spherical, 1-2 mm in diameter, with tightly overlapping scales with spreading tips. Leaves evenly distributed along and stiffly radiating around the twigs, lasting 3 or more years, shiny dark green or sometimes a bluish green from wax above, grayish green and with stomates confined to broad, waxy bands on either side of the midrib beneath, (0.4-)0.6-1.2(-1.6) cm long, (1-)2-3(-4) mm wide. Blades nearly parallel-sided in the middle portion, tapering abruptly to the hard, rounded tip and gradually to the wedge-shaped base, nearly stalkless, straight or slightly curved to one side, the margins usually flat. Midrib flat or slightly grooved above, broadly raised beneath, with a single resin canal beneath the midvein and with prominent support tissue extending to the sides into the leaf tissue. Pollen cones (3-)4-7(-12) mm long and 3-5 mm wide, (one to) three to six at the end of a short, leafless stalk to 6(-10) mm long, dull red. Pollen scales with an upturned, smooth-edged, broadly triangular tip about 1 mm long and wide. Seed cones on a short, leafless stalk to about 3 mm long, without basal bracteoles, the reproductive part with two nearly equal bracts, these and the axis becoming very swollen, juicy, and bright red at maturity, (3-)4-6(-7) mm long. Fertile seed scales one (or two), the combined seed coat and epimatium leathery and wrinkled, greenish black, 3-5 mm long, with a prominent crest along one side and over the top that gives it a beaked or pear-shaped look.

This species name honors Robert Lawrence (1807-1833), Tasmania’s earliest resident plant collector, who collected the type material in Tasmania in 1831, just 2 years before he died by misadventure at an early age, as did so many of the famous collectors of the time.

Southeastern Australia, from southeastern New South Wales through eastern Victoria to Tasmania. Mostly sheltered by and smothering rocks in alpine boulder fields and on talus slopes but also found in wet sclerophyll forests at lower elevations; (500-)900-1,800(-2,000) m.

Conservation Status

Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern

Podocarpus lawrencei is widespread and often common in the mountains of both SE Australia and Tasmania. It is therefore assessed as Least Concern.

Podocarpus lawrencei is a subalpine to alpine shrub limited to the highest mountains in the southern part of the Great Dividing Range and in Tasmania. Its altitudinal range is between 900 m and 2,000 m a.s.l. and it grows mostly in rocky terrain, e.g. scree slopes, broken rocky plateaus and ridges formed by acidic igneous or metamorphic rock types. In the Great Dividing Range it may also occur in wet sclerophyll forest with Acacia spp., Eucalyptus spp., and Telopea sp., where it can reach to 4 m tall; above the tree line it is found in subalpine/alpine dwarf scrub mixed with alpine herbaceous grassland, some associated species there are Prostanthera cuneata, Grevillea australis and Eucalyptus australis. In Tasmania, three endemic conifers are often associated with Podocarpus lawrencei: Diselma archeri (Cupressaceae), Microcachrys tetragona, and Pherosphaera hookeriana (Podocarpaceae). The angiosperm flora is also distinct, with e.g. Orites revoluta, Richea scoparia, Epacris serpyllifolia, and Leptospermum ruprestre.

No specific threats have been identified although the alpine areas of Australia have been identified as highly susceptible to the potential future effects of climate change.

Mountain plum pine is suitable as a low, hardy shrub in countries with mildly cold winters. It is planted in rockeries or as undergrowth in park-like tree plantings and provides an evergreen, spreading shrub with attractive, red 'fruits' (the ripe receptacles) topped by a shiny, green seed. It is uncommon in Europe, North America and Japan probably because it is not easy to germinate.

This species is present in several protected areas, including national parks, both in mainland Australia and in Tasmania.

References

Farjon, A. (2010). A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.
Eckenwalder, J.E. (2009) Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference. Timber Press, Portland.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Cambridge, UK /Gland, Switzerland