Podocarpus lawrencei

Location & distribution maps

Plant description

Common name:         Mountain plum-pine  

• Also, Errinundra plum-pine and Mountain plum-pine

Conservation status: Least concern

Etymology:   

• The name comes from Greek πούς (poús, "foot") + καρπός (karpós, "fruit")

• 
  

Cones and seed:                            

• It has small bright red berry-like cones, with a 5–10 mm long red aril 

• One (rarely two) apical seeds 6–8 mm long

• They are eaten by birds and marsupials, but are toxic to most other mammals (including humans)

Leaves:         

• 10 mm long and 2–3 mm broad

• Green, often reddish-tinted, particularly so in cold winter weather

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

Habit:        

• Normally low growing, rarely reaching more than 1 m in the Australian Alps

• On the Errinundra Plateau in eastern Victoria it reaches 15 m in height

• Can live up to 600 years

Habitat:   

• It grows on exposed sites to 1,800 m, often forming living carpets over rocks through wind pruning.

Distribution:                  

• Native throughout the Australian high country

• From southern Tasmania through to the NSW highlands

Additional notes:    

• Use

  • The timber is too rare to be used for woodcrafts

  • Long life and  growth rings, make it useful for determining past climate conditions

• Cultivation

  • It is tolerant of quite dry conditions and can re-sprout after losing all its leaves from drought

  • It survives −16 °C to 45 °C and grows well in full sun or fairly heavy shade

  • It is slow growing, putting on about 3–5 cm of length each year

  • It can be grown from cuttings or seed

  • New foliage is usually a lime green, darkening to olive green as it hardens

  • Ideally the mountain plum-pine should be grown in full sunlight with plenty of water

  • It makes a good indoor plant in a bright window

  • It is an excellent bonsai or hedging plant, although it does require patience

Sources of information:

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