Callitris preissii

Location & distribution maps

Plant description

Common name:         Rottnest Island Pine  

• Also, Murray pine, maroong, southern cypress pine, or slender cypress pine

• The Noongar peoples know the tree as marro

Conservation status: . . .

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

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Cones and seed:                            

• It starts producing brown-yellow-orange cones between October and January

Leaves:         

• The leaf is rounded on the dorsal side and the cones often have a width of over 2 cm 

• With scales that do not separate from the base

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

• The root system is generally moderate to deep or shallow and spreading

Habit:        

• The pine can have a tree or shrub-like habit typically growing to a height of 1 to 9 m  and a width of up to 6 m

• It is relatively slow growing

• The crown is commonly made up fine, dense foliage

• It is reasonably long lived, usually to over 15 years of age

Habitat:   

• it is found on plains, slopes, the margins of salt lakes and among granite outcrops growing in sandy, loamy or clay soils

Distribution:                  

• Endemic to Rottnest Island, Australia

• It is endemic to the Swan Coastal Plain, Rottnest Island and Garden Island

• Has become naturalised elsewhere and now has a scattered distribution throughout the Mid West, Wheatbelt, Peel, Great Southern and Goldfields-Esperance regions 

Additional notes:   

• Uses

  • The plant makes a good windbreak or 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

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

Sources of information:

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