Callitris
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Location & distribution maps
Phylogeny & links to associated information:
Phylogeny & links to associated information:
Wikipedia links: Gymnosperms > Cupressales > Cupressaceae > Callitris
Other links:
Plant description
Plant description
Common name: Cypress-pine
Callitris trees are commonly called cypress pines because they are related to, and resemble, northern hemisphere cypresses (genus Actinostrobus)
Conservation status: Varies
Etymology:
The name ‘callitris’ is derived from the Greek calli (meaning beautiful) and treis (meaning three), because their scale-like leaves are in whorls of three
Cones and seed:
The male cones are small, 3–6 mm long, and are located at the tips of the twigs
The female cones start out similarly inconspicuous, maturing in 18–20 months to 1–3 cm long and wide, globular to ovoid (acute in C. macleayana), with six overlapping, thick, woody scales, arranged in two whorls of three (often 8 scales in C. macleayana)
The cones remain closed on the trees for many years, opening only after being scorched by a bushfire; this then releases the seeds to grow on the newly cleared burnt ground
Leaves:
The leaves are evergreen and scale-like
But young seedlings have needle-like leaves
In C. macleayana, needle-like leaves are found mixed with scale leaves throughout the tree's life
The scales are arranged in six rows along the twigs, in alternating whorls of three (often in whorls of four in C. macleayana)
Stem & branches:
Roots:
Habit:
They are small to medium-sized trees or large shrubs, reaching 5–25 m tall and to 40 m in C. macleayana
Habitat:
Distribution:
x
Species:
World: 16 species
Australia: 13 species
The non-Australian species (C. neocaledonica, C. sulcata and C. pancheri) are native to New Caledonia
Additional notes:
Taxonomy
The genus is divided into two sections:
with the atypical C. macleayana in sect. Octoclinis
and all the other species in sect. Callitris
Some botanists treat C. macleayana in a separate genus, as Octoclinis macleayana. C. macleayana is also distinct in occurring in rainforest on the east coast of Australia; the other species all grow on dry sites
The closest relative of Callitris is Actinostrobus from southwest Western Australia, which differs in its cones having several basal whorls of small sterile scales
A 2010 study of Actinostrobus and Callitris places the three species of Actinostrobus within an expanded Callitris based on analysis of 42 morphological and anatomical characters
In 2010, early Oligocene fossilised foliage and cones of Callitris were unearthed near the Lea River in Tasmania. The fossils were given the name Callitris leaensis and represent the oldest known representative of the genus
Callitris Forests and Woodlands
Pure stands of cypress pine (Callitris spp.) are restricted to localised pockets on undulating to flat land, most often in fire-protected sites
An alliance with eucalypt species is more common
Other outlying populations occur on upland rocky areas protected from regular fire events
Found mostly in a series of discrete regions, notably in the Brigalow Belt of inland Queensland and NSW, but also in the arid areas of South Australia and in association with mallee communities near the South Australia—Victoria border
Generally dominated by a herbaceous understorey with only a few shrubs
Associated shrub species in the arid and semi-arid zones include Eremophila (emu bushes), Dodonaea (hop bushes), Atriplex, Maireana, Sclerolaena (chenopods or saltbushes) and grasses such as Triodia, Plectrachne, Aristida and Austrostipa
Extensive areas have been cleared for grazing in the Brigalow Belt and the Mallee bioregions.
Major areas are included in state forests and other crown reserves in Queensland and NSW
Source:
https://www.anbg.gov.au/photo/vegetation/callitris-forests-woodlands.html
Sources of information:
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