Plate 189.— DACRYDIUM LAXIFOLIUM. 



(THE PYGMY PINE.) 



Family TAXACE^.] [Genus DACRYDIUM, Sol. 



Dacrydium laxifolium, Hool;. f. hi Lond. Journ. Bot. iv (1845), 143 ; Fl. Nov. Zel. i, 234; 

 Cheesem. Man. N .Z. EL 657. 



Dacrydium la.Tifolii/m is i)robably the smallest known pine. I have seen 

 fruiting specimens not more than Sin. in diameter, and certainly not rising 

 2 in. above the soil. Usually, Itowever, its trailing stems are from 1 ft. to 3 ft. 

 in length, and, being profusely branched, form mats oi' carpets 2 ft. to 6 ft. in 

 diameter. It never produces an erect stem; but, as stated bv Mr. Kirk in 

 his " Forest Flora," it is sometimes found growing amongst other shrubs, among 

 which its branches may scramble to a height of 3 ft. or 4 ft. 



It was originally discovered by Mr. J. C. Bidwill in 1839 near the base 

 of Ngauruhoe, on the central volcanic plateau of the North Island. At 

 page 48 of his " Rambles in New Zealand " he says, " I found here a most 

 curious little plant of the yew family {Dacrydium); it was not larger than 

 a clump of moss, and was mistaken for a moss by me when I first saw it." 

 Bidwill's specimens were forwarded to Kew, and the species was described by 

 Sir J. D. Hooker in 1845 under the name it still bears. Some years later it 

 was again collected by Bidwill, this time on the Nelson mountains; and also 

 by Colenso, on the Ruahine Range. So far as is known at present, the 

 northern limit of the species is on Mount Kakaramea, immediately to the 

 north of Tongariro; but there is a strong probability that it exists on the sum- 

 mit of Hikurangi, in the East Cape district. It is not uncommon on the 

 Ruahine and Kaimanawa Mountains, but has not yet been recorded from the 

 Tararua Range. In the South Island it is abundant in mountain districts 

 from Collingwood to the south-west of Otago, usually in moorland swamps. 

 It crosses Foveaux Strait, and attains its southern limit in the Rakiahua and 

 Freshwater Valleys, on the west side of Stewart Island. In these two locali- 

 ties it descends almost to sea-level, and grows as a heath-plant on the con- 

 solidated surface of ancient sand-dunes. In the North and South Islands it 

 is rarelv found below 2,500 ft., and is most abundant between 3,000 ft. and 

 4,000 ft." 



D. laxifolitim, like all the New Zealand Gymnosiperms, has heterophyl- 

 lous foliage. The juvenile plant, which is represented by the central figure 

 on the accompanying plate, has rather long narrow-linear acute leaves, which 

 are lax and spreading. These, through the growth of the plant, are gradually 

 replaced by shorter and close-set linear-oblong obtuse leaves, which are spreading 

 or suberect. What may be called the mature foliage consists of small ovate 

 or rhomboid imbricating leaves, which, unfortunately, are not clearly repre- 

 sented on the plate. In many plants, and even in some localities, the imbricat- 

 ing leaves are not developed; and even when they are, there is always an 

 abundance of the spreading linear-oblong type. 



D. laxifoliinn, although very distinct from all the other New Zealand 

 species in habit and mode of growth, is nevertheless a close ally of D. inter- 



