''Callitris preissii'' 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 to

Rottnest Island Rottnest Island (), often colloquially referred to as "Rotto", is a Islands of Perth, Western Australia, island off the coast of Western Australia, located west of Fremantle. A sandy, low-lying island formed on a base of aeolianite limestone, ...

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 ...

. Common names include Rottnest Island pine, Murray pine, maroong, southern cypress pine, and slender cypress pine. The

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian people who live in the South West, Western Australia, south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton, Western Aus ...

peoples know the tree as ''marro''.

Description

The pine can have a tree or shrub-like habit typically growing to a height of and a width of up to . It is relatively slow growing. The crown is commonly made up fine, dense foliage. The leaf is rounded on the dorsal side and the cones often have a width of over with scales that do not separate from the base. It starts producing brown-yellow-orange cones between October and January. The root system is generally moderate to deep or shallow and spreading. It is reasonably long lived, usually to over 15 years of age.

Distribution

It is

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 ...

to the

Swan Coastal Plain The Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geol ...

and Garden Island but has become naturalised elsewhere and now has a scattered distribution throughout the

Mid West The Mid West region is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is a sparsely populated region extending from the west coast of Western Australia, about north and south of its administrative centre of Geraldton and inland to east of W ...

, Wheatbelt,

Peel Peel or Peeling may refer to: Places Australia * Peel (Western Australia) * Peel, New South Wales * Peel River (New South Wales) Canada * Peel Parish, New Brunswick * Peel, New Brunswick, an unincorporated community in Peel Parish * Pee ...

, Great Southern and Goldfields-Esperance regions where it is found on plains, slopes, the margins of salt lakes and among

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

outcrops growing in sandy, loamy or clay soils.

Uses

The plant makes a good windbreak or functions as a shelterbelt or shade for stock. The trunks make ideal fence posts and it has good ornamental attributes. The plant's pollen has value for

apiculture Beekeeping (or apiculture, from ) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in artificial beehives. Honey bees in the genus ''Apis (bee), Apis'' are the most commonly kept species but other honey producing bees such as ''Melipona'' stingless be ...

. In urban areas it makes a good ornamental plant, or a free street tree, and is suitable as a screen or hedge.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2715203 preissii Trees of Australia Pinales of Australia Least concern flora of Australia Flora of Western Australia Flora of South Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (state) Rottnest Island Trees of Mediterranean climate Drought-tolerant trees Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Plants described in 1845