''Callitris macleayana'' is a species of

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

in the family

Cupressaceae Cupressaceae or the cypress family is a family of conifers. The family includes 27–30 genera (17 monotypic), which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130–140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdioecious or (rarely) dioecio ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The tree is commonly known as stringybark pine, as well as brush cypress pine and Port Macquarie pine, although it does not belong to the pine genus or family. Stringybark pine is found in two regions of Australia's east coast, one in the centre and one in the north.

Description

''Callitris macleayana'' is a large, straight-trunked tree with spreading branches and up to 40 metres in height. The bark is furrowed, and its juvenile leaves are around 1 cm in length, giving way to mature foliage of 2-3 mm; cones often occur in solitary on larger fruiting branches, and have 6 scales when borne on mature trees.

Distribution and habitat

Stringybark pine occurs over much of the central and northeast coast of Australia with an estimated range of 20,000 km², although its range is divided in two with a 1500 km gap between the two occurrences. In the North, it is found in open forests upon humid highlands, mainly among

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

, Syncarpia, and

Corymbia ''Corymbia'', commonly known as bloodwoods, is a genus of about one hundred species of tree that, along with ''Eucalyptus'', '' Angophora'' and several smaller groups, are referred to as eucalypts. Until 1990, corymbias were included in the g ...

species; in the South, it is found in wet sclerophyll forests and occasionally in pockets of subtropical rainforest, the latter including

Ficus ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family (biology), family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few spe ...

and

Podocarpus ''Podocarpus'' () is a genus of conifers, the most numerous and widely distributed of the podocarp family, the Podocarpaceae. ''Podocarpus'' species are evergreen shrubs or trees, usually from tall, known to reach at times. The cones have ...

species. Within these habitats the stringybark pine prefers exposed locations, such as slopes and ridge tops, whilst generally being found in poorer soils. The tree's limitation to humid sites is in contrast to many other species in the genus, such as ''

Callitris glaucophylla ''Callitris'' is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). There are 16 recognized species in the genus, of which 13 are native to Australia and the other three (''C. neocaledonica, C. sulcata'' and ''C. p ...

'' and '' C. endlicheri''. The species has a cold hardiness of -1.1 °C to +4.4 °C, corresponding to hardiness Zone 10.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5022833 macleayana Trees of Australia Pinales of Australia Least concern flora of Australia Flora of Queensland Flora of New South Wales Least concern biota of Queensland Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller