Podocarpus

Thesaurus

Noun

Podocarpus - evergreen trees or shrubs; sometimes classified as member of the family Taxaceaegenus Podocarpusgymnosperm genus - a genus of gymnospermsfamily Podocarpaceae, Podocarpaceae, podocarpus family - gymnosperms with simple persistent needlelike or scalelike leavespodocarp - any evergreen in the southern hemisphere of the genus Podocarpus having a pulpy fruit with one hard seedPodocarpus coriaceus, yacca, yacca podocarp - West Indian evergreen with medium to long leavesbrown pine, Podocarpus elatus, Rockingham podocarp - large Australian tree with straight-grained yellow wood that turns brown on exposureAfrican yellowwood, cape yellowwood, Podocarpus elongatus - South African tree or shrub having a rounded crownPodocarpus latifolius, South-African yellowwood - erect or shrubby tree of Africa having ridged dark grey bark and rigid glossy medium to long leavesalpine totara, Podocarpus nivalis - low wide-spreading coniferous shrub of New Zealand mountainsPodocarpus totara, totara - valuable timber tree of New Zealand yielding hard reddish wood used for furniture and bridges and wharves

Podocarpus

a genus of coniferous plants of the family Podocarpaceae (Taxaceae). The plants are dioecious (very rarely monoecious) evergreen trees or shrubs. The alternate or, less frequently, opposite leaves vary in size and shape. They range from scalelike forms measuring about 2 mm long to acicular, linear, lanceolate, elliptic, and ovate forms reaching 25–30 cm in length and 5 cm in width. Thus, many bear little resemblance to the leaves of conifers. The cylindrical male spikelets, or micro-strobiles, are solitary or in bunches (rarely in spikes) and consist of numerous microsporophylls bearing two sporangia each. The female spikelets, or megastrobiles, are solitary (rarely in spikes) and consist of one or, less frequently, two seed embryos surrounded by modified scales (epimacium) and attached to the axil by a fertile sheathing scale. In many species the bases of the fertile and the one or two sterile scales fuse together with the strobile axis; they then become fleshy and form a thickened stem that supports the seeds. The seeds are nutlike or drupaceous, measure 0.6–3.5 cm long, and are frequently colored.

There are more than 100 species of Podocarpus, found mainly in mountain forests of the tropical and subtropical belts of the southern hemisphere. Only a few species are found north of the equator, reaching the West Indies in the western hemisphere and the Himalayas, China, and Japan in Asia. Some species are valued for their wood. Several species are cultivated; in the USSR they are found on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus and along the southern coast of the Crimea. The genus Podocarpus contains the only parasitic coniferous plant, P. ustus, which attacks a woody plant of the same family—Falcatifolium, or Dacrydium, taxoides.

REFERENCES

Derev’ia i kustarniki SSSR, vol. 1. Moscow-Leningrad, 1949.
Gray, N. E. “A Taxonomic Revision of Podocarpus.”
Journal of the Arnold Arboretum. Harvard University, 1962, vol. 43, no. 1.
Pilger, R. “Podocarpaceae.” In Die natiirlichen Pflanzenfamilien, vol. 13, 2nd ed. Edited by A. Engler. Leipzig, 1926.

V. N. GLADKOVA

Podocarpus

noun

Synonyms for Podocarpus

noun evergreen trees or shrubs

Synonyms

genus Podocarpus

Related Words

gymnosperm genus
family Podocarpaceae
Podocarpaceae
podocarpus family
podocarp
Podocarpus coriaceus
yacca
yacca podocarp
brown pine
Podocarpus elatus
Rockingham podocarp
African yellowwood
cape yellowwood
Podocarpus elongatus
Podocarpus latifolius
South-African yellowwood
alpine totara
Podocarpus nivalis
Podocarpus totara
totara