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Scientific name: Lagarostrobos franklinii (J.Hooker) Quinn 1982
Synonyms: Dacrydium franklinii Hook.f., Lepidothamnus franklinii (Hook. f.) Quinn
Common names: Huon pine, Macquarie pine
Description
Tree to 25(-38) m tall, much shorter or even shrubby on dry hillsides or in subalpine shrublands. Trunk to 1(-1.8) m in diameter, round or somewhat fluted, sometimes with a corkscrew spiral. Bark light brown weathering light gray, smooth or variously warty at first, becoming densely scaly and shedding in thick flakes, sometimes with vertical fissures. Crown conical and gracefully drooping in youth, becoming deep and narrowly to broadly dome-shaped with age, with heavy, crooked, forking, steeply to shallowly upwardly angled branches arching at the end and bearing numerous, repeatedly alternately branched, upright to drooping branchlets densely clothed with and hidden by foliage. Juvenile leaves triangular, 1.5-5 mm long, spreading from the twig at a forward angle. Adult leaves yellowish green to dark green and dotted with white stomates, 1-2 mm long, sharply or more roundly keeled, lasting 4-5 years or more. Pollen cones dull red, 3-6.5 mm long and 1-1.5 mm in diameter. Seed cones dull white with a yellowish or greenish tinge, droopy, a little fleshy, 4-8 mm long, each seed cupped for a quarter to a third of its length in a one-sided, jaggedly toothed, papery pink epimatium less than 1 mm deep. Seeds red with patches of a thin, waxy film, smooth to wrinkled (on drying), 2-2.5 mm long.
The species name honors John Franklin (1786 - 1847), English naval captain, arctic explorer, and governor of Tasmania (1836 - 1843), who died with all of his men while exploring the Northwest Passage through the Canadian arctic.
Southwestern quarter of Tasmania, Australia. Most abundant and of largest size in wet soils along streamsides and lakeshores in mixed temperate rain forests but surviving also on drier sites as a stunted tree or shrub; 0-750(-900) m.
Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern
Lagarostrobos franklinii does not meet any criteria for a threatened category, despite massive logging which at one time reduced the population to a fraction of what it must have been prior to European settlement. While this has meant that few large trees remain, the species has shown a very good capacity to recover, much of it through resprouting and layering, and it has recovered 80-85% of its former area of occupancy and is listed as Least Concern. Nearly all (86%) of the population is in reserves and new hydroelectric projects are not envisaged.
The population went through a low bottleneck due to over-exploitation, but is presently recovering. Large mature trees have become rare and this slow growing species will take centuries to regain former sizes reached by individual trees (only a few were left by loggers). However, trees reach reproductive maturity much earlier and in that sense mature trees are recovering almost everywhere except where habitat has been permanently inundated by dams.
Lagarostrobos franklinii is mostly a riparian species, usually on river banks or close to rivers, but occasionally occurring on wet hill sides away from main water courses in temperate rainforest. It forms groves dominated by Huon Pine, marking stream courses at low altitudes from sea level to 150 m, and it grows on some hills to 900 m in the mountainous west country. In a few areas it is observed to have spread by layering, most notably on Mt. Read, where several hectares are believed to be occupied by stems forming a single clone. It is often accompanied by Nothofagus cunninghamii, Eucryphia lucida, Anopterus glandulosus and ferns, with Eucalyptus obliqua growing nearby on higher ground. At high altitude sites it may occur with Athrotaxis selaginoides, Phyllocladus asplenifolius and Diselma archeri.
An estimated 15% of its habitat has been lost through inundation for hydroelectric schemes and to fire over the past 100 years or so. Extensive logging in the past has removed nearly all large trees, but there is regrowth nearly everywhere. One stand of the species has been made available for access to craft wood from dead and downed timber under a strict licensing system. It is illegal to cut living trees.
Huon pine timber is rot resistant, fine grained and highly valued. From 1802 until relatively recently it was heavily exploited in the more accessible parts of its range. Timber is primarily used for building boats, furniture and for joinery and turning.
About 85% of stands are within protected areas. Fire management appears to be the main priority at present to ensure its continued conservation under the currently prevailing policies.
Copyright © Aljos Farjon, James E. Eckenwalder, IUCN, Conifers Garden. All rights reserved.
