Podocarpus is a conifer whose cones pose as juicy berries
Conifers usually mean woody pine cones, but Podocarpus plays a different game. Its few cone scales swell and fuse into a bright, fleshy, berry-like base that birds eat, spreading the seeds in their droppings. This ancient genus descends from the forests of Gondwana, the southern supercontinent that broke apart millions of years ago.
Podocarpus is the largest and most widespread genus in its family, with Plants of the World Online accepting 116 species; other authorities count between 97 and 107. The name combines Greek words for foot and fruit. Most species are trees of 1 to 25 metres, occasionally reaching 40, though some are low shrubs that sprawl along the ground. Common names often borrow from other plants, such as the plum pine of Australia or the Buddhist pine.
Its leaves are flat, leathery and usually narrow, with a distinct midrib and breathing pores mostly on the underside. Male and female cones generally grow on separate plants. Pollen cones are long and catkin-like, while each seed cone has just two to five scales; only the topmost one or two bear an ovule, and the lower ones fuse into the colourful fleshy receptacle. A single seed usually sits on top, wrapped in a fleshy, typically green coat called an epimatium.
The genus is a signature of the so-called Antarctic flora, which arose in the cool, damp south of Gondwana. That landmass split into Africa, South America, India, Australia and New Guinea, New Zealand and New Caledonia between about 105 and 45 million years ago. As the fragments drifted north into warmer, drier climates, podocarps retreated to humid refuges; in Australia, drought-adapted acacias and eucalypts took over.
Today the genus ranges from southern Chile to Mexico and from New Zealand to Japan, as well as across much of Africa and Asia. As recently as the Late Pliocene it grew in the northern United States. Gardeners plant it in parks, and one cultivar, County Park Fire, holds the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Source: Podocarpus
