The Structure of Podocarpus spinulosus, (Smith) R. Br. 
BY 
F. T. BROOKS, M.A. 
Senior Demonstrator of Botany, Cambridge University. 
AND 
WALTER STILES, B.A. 
Assistant- Lecturer in Botany in the University of Leeds. 
With Plate XXI. 
Introduction. 
HE following account of the structure of Podocarpus is based mainly 
JL upon material of Podocarpus spinulosus , (Smith) R. Br., which was 
obtained from the Botanic Gardens, Sydney, New South Wales. The 
material was sent to Professor Seward by Mr. Maiden, and was handed 
over to us for investigation. 
Material of Podocarpus alpimts obtained from the Royal Gardens, Kew, 
and of one or two other species of which only a limited stock was available, 
were examined at the same time for the sake of comparison. 
Pilger ( 13 ) in his monograph of the Taxaceae places Podocarptts and 
four other genera— Pherosphaera , Microcachrys , Saxegothaea , Dacrydium — 
in the sub-family Podocarpoideae, the other sub-families of the group being 
the Phyllocladoideae, containing the single genus Phyllocladtts , and the 
Taxoideae, comprising Taxus , Torreya , Cephalotaxus . Pilger evidently 
then considers the Podocarpoideae to be very closely related to the 
Taxoideae. Later work, however, would appear to necessitate a modifica¬ 
tion of this view. 
The systematic position of Podocarpus and closely allied genera is 
discussed in the latter part of this paper. 
The genus Podocarpus , as described in Pilger’s monograph, contains no 
less than sixty-three species, the large majority of which are found in the 
Southern Hemisphere. New Zealand, Australia, and the Malayan islands 
are at present the home par excellence of the genus, while smaller centres 
of distribution are such different regions as East Africa (Sao Thome), Cape 
Colony and Natal, Assam, Japan, China, Central America, West Indies, 
and Chili. Where the genus is present within the tropics it is generally 
[Annals of Botany, Vol. XXIV. No. XCIV. April, 1910.] 
