Athrotaxis selaginoides

Crescent shed Spruce ( Athrotaxis selaginoides )

The Crescent shed Spruce ( Athrotaxis selaginoides ) is a conifer of the genus shed spruce ( Athrotaxis ) in the family of the cypress family ( Cupressaceae ). The evergreen tree is native to Tasmania.

Description

Athrotaxis selaginoides grows as evergreen tree.

He forms a cone-shaped canopy and reaches stature heights of up to 30 meters with trunk diameters of up to 2 meters. Often knotless a large part of the tribe. An extreme locations the species grows shrubby creeping up on the ground. The bark of the trunk is orange-red, slightly grooved, and dissolves in long strips from. The branches stand upright. The leaves are glossy green, 8-13 mm long, and arranged spirally. They are widely spreading, very tapering with is precurved tip and lanceolate. On the bottom they are keeled with two small depressions and two bright blue white Stomabändern. The leaves are entire.

The species is monoecious monoecious getrenntgeschlechtig. The male cones are sitting at the end of short branches and contain two pollen sacs. The female cones are sitting at a 2-3 mm long stalk; they are spherical and 2.5 to 3 cm in size. The cones are initially orange and later brown; the scales are triangular, papery and pointed. Contained 2-4 winged seeds per Deckschuppe.

Dissemination

The species is endemic to Tasmania. It comes in mountain regions of the Central Plateau at altitudes 914-1219 m in the west to the central part of the island before. Be visited nature reserves are located in the Cradle Mountain National Park.

The species is not hardy in Central Europe; in the scheme of USDA climate zones it is hardy only to the climate zone 8.

Use

Old tree specimens of the type found for dendrochronological investigations use. It could be a tree-ring series for 777 years set up.

Since the species is very slow growing, intensive commercial exploitation of the wood would be extremely endanger the stocks. The wood is very light, with pink to red-brown colored heartwood and yellow sapwood. The soft wood has a fine grain with good discernible growth rings and can easily be split; it is very durable. Use it finds, among other things in boat building.

System

The species was first described in 1838 by the British botanist David Don. A synonym is Athrotaxis alpina Van Houtte ex Gord ..

Swell

• Christopher J. Earle: Athrotaxis selaginoides. In: The Gymnosperm Database. December 12, 2010, accessed on 20 October 2011 ( English).
• Athrotaxis selaginoides at Plants For A Future