Dacrydium cupressinum
Grown Rimu
The rimu Harzeibe ( Dacrydium cupressinum ) is a plant from the family of Podocarpus plants ( Podocarpaceae ). It is native to New Zealand. The English common name red pine, translated, red pine ', is misleading because it is not a pine, but a member of the widespread in the southern hemisphere stone Yews. Today, the term " Rimu " Māori for the tree is used in New Zealand.
Occurrence
Dacrydium cupressinum is native only to New Zealand. Rimu grow in New Zealand on both main islands and Stewart Island. The largest populations are found on the West Coast of the South Island, the largest trees in the Podocarpus mixed forests near the town of Taupo ( Pureora, Waihaha and Whirinaki Forest ).
The Rimu grows usually dominated by deciduous trees in a temperate rain forest, but there are particularly on the West Coast of the South Island almost pure stands.
Description
Dacrydium cupressinum is a slow- growing evergreen tree that can reach heights of growth of up to 50 meters. However, most of the surviving trees are 20 to 35 feet high. Historical traditions speak of up to 61 meters high trees in devastated today, thick forests near National Park. The straight trunk normally achieved diameter of up to 1.5 meters, with old or very large specimens more. You can be 800 to 900 years old. The spirally arranged on the branch needles are shaped and commended in young plants up to 7 mm long and 1 mm wide, in adult trees 2 to 3 mm long.
Dacrydium cupressinum is like most Podocarpus plants dioecious getrenntgeschlechtig ( dioecious ). The seeds need to maturity 15 months. The ripe " pin " consist of a red, fleshy, 6-10 mm long aril which carries a, rare two terminal, 4 mm long seeds. The seeds are dispersed by birds that eat the arils and the seeds drop out later. The fruits are an important food source for some species, particularly the kakapo, the breeding cycle is coordinated with the reproductive cycle of the tree.
Use
Rimu was for the early European settlers next to Kauri and Totara the main source of wood for furniture and house construction. Therefore, many of the original stocks were destroyed. Currently, a government order prohibiting the felling of trees in the standing publicly owned forests; on private property subject to the use restrictions. The extremely fast- Monterey pine has replaced the Rimu in most sectors of the economy; as a timber for high quality furniture Rimu is popular. One has also to a lesser extent the stump and root wood felled trees many years ago, to process it into bowls and other lathe parts.
The inner bark can be used as a remedy for burns and cuts.
More images
Bark
Swell
- Dacrydium cupressinum. In: New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. Retrieved on 20 June 2007.