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  4. Dacrydium cupressinum

Dacrydium cupressinum

Fruit.<br>Photographer: Department of Conservation, Licence: Public domain.
Female cones.<br>Photographer: Department of Conservation, Licence: Public domain.
Fertilised cones.<br>Photographer: Department of Conservation, Licence: Public domain.
Male cones.<br>Photographer: Department of Conservation, Licence: Public domain.
Ripe male pollen cones.<br>Photographer: Department of Conservation, Licence: Public domain.
Rimu tree.<br>Photographer: Department of Conservation, Licence: Public domain.
Rimutaka Forest Park. Nov 2006.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>.
Rimu bark.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>.
Rimu.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>.
Fruit.<br>Photographer: John E. Braggins, Licence: All rights reserved.
Fruit.<br>Photographer: John E. Braggins, Licence: All rights reserved.
Pihanga, Tongariro National Park.<br>Photographer: John Sawyer, Date taken: 01/02/2010, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Pihanga, Tongariro National Park.<br>Photographer: John Sawyer, Date taken: 01/02/2010, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Pihanga, Tongariro National Park.<br>Photographer: John Sawyer, Date taken: 01/02/2010, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Dacrydium cupressinum.<br>Photographer: Wayne Bennett, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Dacrydium cupressinum.<br>Photographer: Wayne Bennett, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Bark. Dunedin.<br>Photographer: John Barkla, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>.
Mt Karioi, near Raglan.<br>Photographer: John Sawyer, Date taken: 01/07/2013, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Young rimu beginning to emerge above the canopy, Paparoa Ranges, West Coast.<br>Photographer: Jesse Bythell, Date taken: 17/09/2016, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Mature tree, Southland Plains.<br>Photographer: Jesse Bythell, Date taken: 31/08/2016, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Bark detail, Rakiura National Park.<br>Photographer: Jesse Bythell, Date taken: 04/01/2020, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Remutaka Forest Park.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 25/11/2006, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>.
Remutaka Forest Park.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 25/11/2006, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>.
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Common name

rimu, red pine

Synonyms

Thalamia cupressina Spreng

Family

Podocarpaceae

Authority

Dacrydium cupressinum Lamb.

Flora category

Vascular – Native

Endemic taxon

Yes

Endemic genus

No

Endemic family

No

Structural class

Trees & Shrubs - Gymnosperms

NVS code

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

DACCUP

Chromosome number

2n = 20

Current conservation status

  • Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017

The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2017 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: By Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley.

2012 | Not Threatened

Previous conservation statuses

2009 | Not Threatened

2004 | Not Threatened

Distribution

Endemic. North, South and Stewart Islands from North Cape south. Uncommon in large parts of the eastern South Island. Facultatively extinct on Banks Peninsula, where one natural tree is all that remains. Rimu is the type of the genus Dacrydium.

Habitat

Lowland to montane forest - occasionally ascending to subalpine scrub.

Features

Dioecious conifer 35(-60) m tall. Adult trees with trunk bare of branches for 3/4 of length. Trunk stout, 1.5-2 m diam., bark dark brown, falling off in large thick flakes. Wood dark red. Branches in juveniles numerous, slender, branchlets pendulous. Adult branches few, spreading, branchlets slender, pendulous. Leaves dark green, bronze-green, red-green or orange, imbricate, those of juveniles 4-7(-10) mm., 0.5-1 mm wide, keeled, acute, linear-subulate, subfalcate, decurrent; those of subadults ascending, incurved 4-6 mm., rhomboid; of adults similar but appressed, 2-3 mm., rigid, subacute, trigonous. Male and Female “cones” first appear on subadults. Male cones (strobili) solitary or paired, terminal 5-10 mm., oblong. Pollen yellow. Ovules solitary, terminal on up-curved branchlets. Receptacle a fleshy red or deep-orange cup 1-2 mm long. Seed oblong or elliptic-oblong, compressed in section, 3-3.8(-4) mm long, semi-glossy, dark-brown.

Similar taxa

A very distinctive species which could not be confused with any other indigenous conifer. The very young juveniles have a superficial similarly to seedlings of silver pine (Manoao colensoi) but differ by their much finer, more numerous, dull rather than glossy red-green leaves.

Flowering

December - March

Flower colours

No flowers

Fruiting

Fruits take a year or more to mature and co-occur with young female cones, they are most frequently seen between February and May.

Life cycle

Arillate seeds are dispersed by frugivory (Thorsen et al., 2009).

Propagation technique

Easily grown from fresh seed. Can be grown from hard-wood cuttings but rather slow to strike.

Threats

Not Threatened, although as a forest-type it has been greatly reduced through widespread logging. Very few intact examples of rimu-dominated forest remain in the North Island.

Etymology

dacrydium: Tear drop

cupressinum: Cypress

Where To Buy

Commonly cultivated and frequently sold by most commercial nurseries and outlets. A very popular garden tree.

Ethnobotany

The first indigenous beer was brewed using the young tips of rimu (as spruce beer) by Captain Cook at Dusky Sound in 1773 (Kirk 1889).

Attribution

Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange 3 February 2006. Description adapted from Allan (1961), Webb & Simpson (2001), fresh material and herbarium specimens.

References and further reading

Allan, H.H. 1961: Flora of New Zealand. Wellington, Government Printer.

Gardner, R. 2001. Notes towards an excursion Flora. Rimu and kahikatea (Podocarpaceae). Auckland Botanical Society Journal, 56: 74-75 

Kirk, T. 1889: The Forest Flora of New Zealand. Wellington, Government Printer.

Thorsen, M. J.; Dickinson, K. J. M.; Seddon, P. J. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 11: 285-309

Webb, C.J.; Simpson, M.J.A. 2001: Seeds of New Zealand Gymnosperms and Dicotyledons. Christchurch, Manuka Press.

NZPCN Fact Sheet citation

Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Dacrydium cupressinum Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/dacrydium-cupressinum/ (Date website was queried)

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