Falcatifolium falciforme
Falcatifolium falciform is a shrub or small tree of the genus Falcatifolium in the family of Podocarpus plants ( Podocarpaceae ). The natural range of the species is on Borneo and the Malay Peninsula. The species is widely used there and in some cases frequently, but it is out in the IUCN Red List as near threatened because the stocks are declining at lower altitudes. The wood of larger trees is used among other things for the production of furniture and as a timber.
- 6.1 Literature
- 6.2 Notes and references
Description
Appearance
Falcatifolium falciform grows as evergreen, usually 1.5 to 12 m tall shrub or tree. Sometimes one finds 35 to 40 meter high trees with an erect, monopodial trunk with a diameter of up to 80 centimeters ( diameter at breast height ) and a spread more or less open crown in forests. The Stammborke is dark brown, gray-brown under influence of weather, smooth and cracked only with large trees and scaly. The bark is fibrous, gray-brown, and be in an injury, a red resin and a red juice from.
Are formed of leaves of two ways: scale leaves and needle-shaped leaves. The scale leaves grow on the main shoots and pressed more or less at the base of lateral shoots. You are pfriemförmig to narrowly lanceolate, 4-6 mm long and 1-2 mm wide. Sometimes they develop into small foliage leaves on. The leaves of seedlings are significantly larger than that of older trees. They are linear - lanceolate or often curved like a sickle, in expelling pink to purple red and later on both sides glossy green. They are short-stalked, 10 to 12 inches long, widen from the base rapidly well before the center of the page up to 10 to 12 millimeters, and then run, bent forward, the tapered end together. The midrib is thin and hardly increased on both leaf surfaces and extends from the base to the tip. In the shadow of growing leaves of older trees are sickle-shaped, or more often curved S-shaped, 3-7 cm long and 5-9 mm wide and converge to the pointed end. The midrib is not or hardly increased. The sun -exposed leaves are much smaller, even on a road of very different sizes, from 0.6 usually 2-4 inches long and from 2 usually 4-8 millimeters wide. The shortest run leaves at the base and tip usually faster together than in the shadow of growing leaves, otherwise the shape is similar to or slightly less bent. On both leaf surfaces numerous line-like, discontinuous stomatal strips are formed, ranging from the base to the tip.
Cones and seeds
The pollen cones grow singly or in groups of axillary or sometimes terminal on short shoots. They are 2-4 inches long and 2.5 to 3.5 millimeters wide. The Mikrosporophylle have two pollen sacs and above a pointed tip.
The seed cones grow individually on axillary short shoots with pointed scale leaves. The Podocarpium is 4 to 6 millimeters long and swells up to maturity at a thickness of 10 to 12 mm, is succulent and turns orange to bright red. The cones ripen only an egg-shaped, oblique -growing, slightly flattened, 6-7 mm long seed which side shows two ridges. The seeds are initially green and stain purple when ripe black.
Distribution and ecology
The natural range is in Borneo, on Lingga and on the Malay Peninsula. One finds Falcatifolium falciform at altitudes 300-2100 m. The distribution area is the hardiness zone 10 attributed with mean annual minimum temperatures between -1.1 to 4.4 degrees Celsius ( 30-40 degrees Fahrenheit). Often the species grows on mountain ranges, where the woods are already sparse and stunted. Grows in this environment Falcatifolium falciform bushy or less, up to 12 meter high tree elatum together with Dacrydium and Dacrycarpus imbricatus. They are also found as undergrowth in Kerangas, open forests on acidic, impoverished white sands ( podzols ) along with Agathis borneensis, Sundacarpus amarus, Nageia wallichiana and Dacrycarpus imbricatus as the dominant trees. In the plains and in the transition to montane documents on nutrient- rich soils they can grow as large tree in the rain forests. However, such large trees are rare and only very scattered to find.
Threats and conservation
In the IUCN Red List Falcatifolium is falciform as potentially at risk ( " Near Threatened " ) out. The species is widespread, at least at higher elevations and often, but the stocks are at lower altitudes and on nährstoffreicherem underground by the felling of trees and converting the forests into agricultural land, for example, as plantations for oil palm ( Elaeis guineensis ), at risk. However, the decline in stocks is not large enough to classify the species as endangered ( " Vulnerable "). The species grows in several protected areas.
Systematics and etymology
Falcatifolium falciform is a species in the genus Falcatifolium, the family of the stone Yews ( Podocarpaceae ) is counted. It was first described in 1868 by Filippo Parlatore as Podocarpus falciformis ( basionym ) and thus assigned to the Podocarpus ( Podocarpus ). David John de Laubenfels they presented in 1969 in the Journal of the Arnold Arboretum in the newly established species Falcatifolium.
De Laubenfels also described leaves of shaded branches of a 24-meter- tall tree from Usan Apua plateau in Sarawak, Borneo, who only had a length of about 6 mm and a width of 2 millimeters, so were very small and should be assigned to its own kind. John Silba then presented the new way Falcatifolium usan - apuensis ( de foliage. & Silba ) de Laub. & Silba, based on herbarium material, which was collected on this plateau. Silba were as dimensions of the sheets to a length of 6 to 19 mm and a width of 2.5 to 4.5 mm, which, however small, in the range of the sun -exposed sheets of Falcatifolium is falciform. In addition to the statement of de Laubenfels there is no indication that it is indeed shade leaves. For leaves of a 24 -meter-high tree, it is also likely that they were exposed to the sun. Other synonyms are Dacrydium falciform ( Parl ) Pilg. and Nageia falciformis ( Parl ) Kuntze. Falcatifolium falciform has the largest leaves of the genus, especially when you look at young, growing in the shade of other trees copies. The size of the leaves was probably also the reason that the way first of the genus Podocarpus, was then the genus Nageia and finally allocated in 1903 for more than 60 years the resin yew trees ( Dacrydium ), before it was allocated as type species of the newly created genus Falcatifolium.
The genus name derives from Latin Falcatifolium Falcis, "Sickle " and folia, "leaf" from, and thus refers to the sickle- curved blades. The specific epithet falciform is crescent shaped, and also describes the shape of the leaves.
Use
The rather rare larger trees of the kind are outside of protected areas, along with other representatives of the stone Yews as representatives of the warts yew ( Dacrycarpus ), the resin yew ( Dacrydium ) and the genus Phyllocladus like, and the wood acted as " Sempilor ". The wood of Falcatifolium species is lightweight and easy to handle, it is used as a lightweight timber to manufacture of doors, windows, furniture, panels, packaging material and boat masts. However, it is not very resistant and therefore unsuitable if it is permanently exposed to the weather. Only a few have in tropical botanical gardens in culture.