Phyllocladus

Phyllocladus, the celery pines, is a small genus of conifers, now usually placed in the family Podocarpaceae. Species occur mainly in New Zealand, Tasmania, and Malesia in the Southern Hemisphere, though P. hypophyllus ranges into the Philippines, a short way north of the equator. They are small to medium-sized trees, reaching 10–30 m tall, or sometimes small shrubs. The main structural shoots are green for 2–3 years, then turn brown as the bark thickens. The leaves are sparse, tiny, scale-like, 2–3 mm long, and only green (photosynthetic) for a short time, soon turning brown. Most photosynthesis is performed by highly modified, leaf-like short shoots called phylloclades; these develop in the axils of the scale leaves, and are simple or compound (depending on species). Simple phylloclades are rhombic, 2–5 cm long, and compound phylloclades are up to 20 cm long and subdivided into five to 15 leaflet-like phylloclades 1–3 cm long. The seed cones are berry-like, similar to those of several other Podocarpaceae genera, notably Halocarpus and Prumnopitys, with a fleshy white aril; the seeds are dispersed by birds, which digest the soft, fleshy aril as they pass the hard seeds in their droppings. Tanekaha Kahuroa.jpg|Phylloclades of ''[[Phyllocladus trichomanoides|P. trichomanoides]]'' Celery Top Pine.jpg|A seedling of ''[[Phyllocladus aspleniifolius|P. aspleniifolius]]'' with needle-like juvenile leaves Phyllocladus alpinus Governors Bush Walk Mount Cook 1.JPG|Pollen cones of ''P. alpinus'' Phyllocladus aspleniifolius (Celery-top pine) cones (8711563882).jpg|Seed cones of ''P. aspleniifolius'' Phyllocladus is sufficiently morphologically distinct from the other Podocarpaceae genera that some botanists have treated them separately in their own family, Phyllocladaceae. However, while at least one molecular phylogenetic analysis found Phyllocladus to be sister to Podocarpus sensu stricto and another was equivocal on its position relative to Podocarpaceae s.s.