Lagarostrobos

Lagarostrobos franklinii is a species of 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 podocarp (Podocarpaceae), not a true pine (Pinaceae).<ref name=Molloy95>Template:Cite journal</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>Template:Cite journal</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">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Description

File:Lagarostrobos franklinii (Huon Pine).jpg

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">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It grows to Template:Convert tall, exceptionally reaching Template:Convert, with arching branches and pendulous branchlets. The leaves are spirally arranged, very small and scale-like, Template:Cvt long, covering the shoots completely. It is dioecious, with male (pollen) and female (seed) cones on separate plants. The male cones are yellow, Template:Cvt long and Template:Cvt broad. The mature seed cones are highly modified, berry-like, with 5 to 10 lax, open scales which mature in six-to-eight months, with one seed Template:Cvt 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 Template:Cvt with an estimated area of occupancy of Template:Cvt. The actual area of occupancy is estimated to range from Template:Cvt (Gibson 1991) to as much as Template:Cvt (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.<ref>Graham Lloyd, "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 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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</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, 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>Huon Pine Lagarostrobos franklinni" Template:Webarchive, 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, 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., "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