Editing Lagarostrobos

{{Short description|Genus of conifers}}
{{Speciesbox
| fossil_range = <br/>[[Paleocene]] to recent {{Fossil range|66|0}}
| image = HuonPine.jpg
| image_caption = Huon pine in a Tasmanian botanical garden
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Farjon, A. |date=2013 |title=''Lagarostrobos franklinii'' |volume=2013 |page=e.T34153A2848138 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T34153A2848138.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus = Lagarostrobos
| parent_authority = Quinn
| species = franklinii
| authority = ([[Joseph Dalton Hooker|Hook.f.]]) Quinn
}}

'''''Lagarostrobos franklinii''''' is a species of [[Pinophyta|conifer]] native to the wet southwestern corner of [[Tasmania]], [[Australia]]. It is often known as the '''Huon pine''' or '''Macquarie pine''', although it is actually a [[Podocarpaceae|podocarp]] (Podocarpaceae), not a true [[pine]] (Pinaceae).<ref name=Molloy95>{{cite journal|last=Molloy|first=B. P. J.|year=1995|title=Manoao (Podocarpaceae), a new monotypic conifer genus endemic to New Zealand|journal=New Zealand Journal of Botany|volume=33|issue=2|pages=183–201|doi=10.1080/0028825x.1995.10410483|doi-access=free|bibcode=1995NZJB...33..183M }}</ref><ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> It is the sole species in the genus '''''Lagarostrobos'''''; one other species ''L. colensoi'' (endemic to [[New Zealand]]) formerly included has been transferred to a new genus ''[[Manoao]]''. The genus was also formerly included in a broader circumscription of the genus ''[[Dacrydium]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Quinn|first=C. J.|year=1982|title=Taxonomy of ''Dacrydium'' Sol. ex Lamb|journal=Australian Journal of Botany|volume=30|issue=3|pages=311–320|doi=10.1071/bt9820311}}</ref>

In molecular phylogenetic analyses ''Lagorostrobos'' was found to be related to ''[[Parasitaxus]]'' (a parasitic and monotypic genus from [[New Caledonia]]) and ''[[Manoao]]'', but their exact relationships are unresolved.<ref>Sinclair, W. T., R. R. Mill, M. F. Gardner, P. Woltz, T. Jaffré, J. Preston, M. L. Hollingsworth, A. Ponge, and M. Möller. (2002) Evolutionary Relationships of the New Caledonian Heterotrophic Conifer Parasitaxus Ustus (Podocarpaceae), Inferred from Chloroplast trnL-F Intron/Spacer and Nuclear ITS2 Sequences. Plant Systematics and Evolution 233: 79–104.</ref>

The [[wood]] is highly prized for its golden yellow colour, fine grain, and natural oils that resist rotting. The chemical giving the timber its unique smell and preservative qualities is [[methyl eugenol]].

It has been planted in the grounds of [[Crathes Castle]], [[Aberdeenshire]], [[Scotland]] and has done well.  Two healthy specimens can also be found at [[Torosay Castle]], [[Isle of Mull]].<ref name="Royal Horticultural Society">{{cite web|url=http://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/RHS-Publications/Journals/The-Plantsman/2007-issues/December/halfhardytrees |title=''Half-hardy trees in Britain and Ireland - part two'' |publisher=Royal Horticultural Society |accessdate=2009-06-18 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130311041058/http://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/RHS-Publications/Journals/The-Plantsman/2007-issues/December/halfhardytrees |archivedate=2013-03-11 }}</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Lagarostrobos franklinii (Huon Pine).jpg|left|thumb|Close-up of Huon pine foliage]]
The Huon pine is a slow-growing, but long-lived tree; some living specimens of this tree are in excess of 2,000 years old.<ref name="Parks+wildlife">{{cite web|url=http://www.stors.tas.gov.au/au-7-0095-03714|title=Plants - Huon pine : one of the oldest plants on earth|year=2003|publisher=Parks and Wildlife Service Tasmania}}</ref> It grows to {{convert|10|to|20|m|ft|abbr=out}} tall, exceptionally reaching {{Convert|30|m|abbr=on}}, with arching branches and pendulous branchlets. The leaves are spirally arranged, very small and scale-like, {{Cvt|1|to|3|mm}} long, covering the shoots completely. It is [[plant sexuality|dioecious]], with male ([[pollen]]) and female ([[seed]]) [[conifer cone|cones]] on separate plants. The male cones are yellow, {{Cvt|5|to|8|mm}} long and {{Cvt|1|to|2|mm}} broad. The mature seed cones are highly modified, [[Berry (botany)|berry]]-like, with 5 to 10 lax, open scales which mature in six-to-eight months, with one seed {{Cvt|2|to|2.5|mm}} long on each scale. Unlike the closely related [[New Zealand]] genus ''[[Manoao]]'', the scales do not become fleshy and are water-dispersed, not bird-dispersed.<ref name=Molloy95/>

Based on herbarium specimens the extent of occurrence is estimated to be around {{cvt|13363|km2}} with an estimated area of occupancy of {{cvt|13363|km2}}. The actual area of occupancy is estimated to range from {{cvt|2500|ha}} (Gibson 1991) to as much as {{cvt|10500|ha}} (Parks and Wildlife Service Tasmania 2006).<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" />

==Age==
Huon pines are some of the oldest living organisms on the Earth.

A stand of trees in excess of 10,500 years old was found in 1955 in western Tasmania on [[Mount Read (Tasmania)|Mount Read]].<ref>Graham Lloyd, [https://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/weekend-australian-magazine/the-oldest-tree/news-story/16e5f9dd65ded005122d725ef2c12b00 "The oldest tree"], ''The Australian'', September 10, 2011. Retrieved 2018-03-22.</ref> Each of the trees in this stand is a genetically identical male that has [[vegetative reproduction|reproduced vegetatively]]. Although no single tree in this stand is of that age, the stand itself as a single organism has existed that long.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blognow.com.au/gumnuts/45647/Could_a_tree_be_10000_years_old.html|archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20070411140000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/68811/20070412-0000/www.blognow.com.au/gumnuts/45647/Could_a_tree_be_10000_years_old.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2007-04-11|title=Could a tree be 10,000 years old?|work=Gumnuts - the ASGAP Blog|accessdate=2012-09-19}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

Individual trees in the clonal patch have been listed as having ages of 2,000<ref name="Parks+wildlife" /><ref>Cris Brack and Matthew Brookhouse, [https://theconversation.com/where-the-old-things-are-australias-most-ancient-trees-65893 Where the old things are: Australia's most ancient trees"], ''The Conversation,'' April 17, 2017: "the oldest in Australia could be a Huon pine (Lagarostrobos franklinii) in Tasmania, the oldest stem of which is up to 2,000 years old." Retrieved 2018-03-22.</ref> or even to 3,000<ref>[http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/file.aspx?id=6575 Huon Pine ''Lagarostrobos franklinni''"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628125126/http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/file.aspx?id=6575 |date=2018-06-28 }}, Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment, 2011: "Individuals have been known to reach an age of 3,000 years." Retrieved 2018-03-22.</ref><ref>Quinn, [http://www.conifers.org/po/Lagarostrobos.php Lagarostrobos franklinii], ''The Gymnosperm Database'', 1982: "Living trees sampled by increment borer have yielded ring counted ages of up to 2,500 years, and since these were not pith dates, it seems likely that there are living trees with ages in excess of 3,000 years (Balmer 1999)." Retrieved 2018-03-22.</ref> years old.

Because of the long life of individual trees, tree rings from Huon Pine have been used for [[dendrochronology]] to establish a record of climate variation.<ref>Cook, E.R., Francey, R.J., Buckley, B.M. and D'Arrigo, R.D., [https://web.archive.org/web/20180628125027/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/bc5c/b17c21a6e1945444f3c9e6ea442fb4003cd7.pdf  "Recent increases in Tasmanian Huon pine ring widths from a subalpine stand: natural climate variability, CO2 fertilisation, or greenhouse warming?"], ''Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, vol. 130''(2), 1996, pp. 65-72. ISSN 0080-4703. Retrieved 2018-03-22.</ref>

==Conservation==
An estimated 15% of its habitat has been lost through inundation for hydroelectric schemes and to fire over the past 100 years or so. Extensive logging in the past has removed nearly all large trees, but there is regrowth nearly everywhere. One stand of the species has been made available for access to craft wood from dead and downed timber under a strict licensing system. It is illegal to cut living trees.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" />

==See also==
* [[List of superlative trees]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{Acrogymnospermae classification}}
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q3216153|from2=Q137400}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Endemic flora of Tasmania]]
[[Category:Trees of Australia]]
[[Category:Pinales of Australia]]
[[Category:Trees of mild maritime climate]]
[[Category:Ornamental trees]]
[[Category:Conservation dependent flora of Australia]]
[[Category:Tasmanian forests]]
[[Category:Huon Pine| ]]
[[Category:Monotypic conifer genera]]
[[Category:Podocarpaceae genera]]
[[Category:Podocarpaceae]]