  Range of Dacrydium magnum (1). Adapted from a map by  www.expediamaps.com | Dacrydium magnum de Laubenfels 1969Common NamesTaxonomic notesSyn: D. beccari var. rudens de Laub. 1969. "The variety rudens was applied to collections from Tagula I. that tend to be more gracile than elsewhere but otherwise are not distinct" (1).Description"Tree, 8-30 m tall, 5-60 cm diam. Branches dense, spreading, upturned. Juvenile leaves spreading widely, slightly curved forward at the tip, pungent, triangular in cross section, gracile, up to at least 18 mm long. Adult leaves spreading at about a 45 angle and strongly curved forward so that the apiculate tip is parallel to the branch or bent slightly inward, forming a compact rope-like branch system, linear-lanceolate, 3-6 mm long but nearly uniform on a branch, 0.3-0.4 by 0.2-0.3 mm. Fertile structures mostly terminal but occasionally on short lateral branches, the subtending leaves hardly distinguishable from ordinary foliage leaves. Pollen cones 10-16 mm long and 2 mm in diameter. Apex of the microsporophyll a lanceolate spur 1.5-2 mm long and 0.5 mm wide at the base. Seed-bearing structure formed of more or less straight and slightly spreading leaf-like bracts which cover the base of the seed. The ripe fruit reported to be brown but possibly an old fruit as has been observed in other species. Seed 5 mm long, often two seeds per cone" (1).RangeSolomon Islands (Guadalcanal, Choiseul, S. Ysabel); Louisiades (Sudest I.) and Moluccas (Obi I.). Rare, but "locally common in the canopy of moist tropical forest between 60 and 1200 m, often along ridge crests where it has a somewhat reduced stature" (1).Big TreeOldestDendrochronologyEthnobotanyObservationsRemarksCitations(1) de Laubenfels 1988.See also: |
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