Athrotaxis selaginoides

Location & distribution maps

Plant description

Common name:         King Billy Pine 

•  Also, King William pine (believed to be in reference to William Lanne, an Aboriginal Tasmanian man)

Conservation status: Vulnerable

• The main cause of past decline has been fire, with about one third of its habitat burnt in the twentieth century

• Like the other two Athrotaxis species, A. selaginoides is sensitive to fire

• Another cause of past decline has been logging

• The overall decline is estimated to be about 40% over the last 200 years

• This is within the three generation time limit where one generation is estimated to be at least 100 years

• Although 84% of forests are now in protected areas, fires still are a potential hazard

• Tasmanian government policy precludes logging of this species in and outside these protected areas

Etymology:   

Cones and seed:                            

• The seed cones are globose, 15–30 mm diameter

• With 20–30 spirally-arranged scales

• They are mature about six months after pollination

• The pollen cones are 4–5 mm long

Leaves:         

• Claw-like, 7–18 mm long and 3–4 mm broad

• They are arranged spirally on the shoots

Stem & branches: 

• Trunk up to 1.5 m diameter

Roots:         

Habit:        

• It is an evergreen coniferous tree growing to 20–30 m tall

Habitat:   

•  It grows at 400–1,120 m altitude

• In its habitat in the mountains, snow in winter is very usual

Distribution:                  

• Endemic to Tasmania

Additional notes:     

• Cultivation

  • Examples of the species can be viewed at The Tasmanian Arboretum

  • Away from its native range, it is occasionally cultivated as an ornamental tree in northwestern Europe

  • It succeeds in Scotland where it receives the necessary rainfalls for its good growth and produces fertile seeds there

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athrotaxis_selaginoides (2023)