PODOCARPUS, a genus of the yew tribe, large timber trees of the East and West Indies, the Archipelago, South Africa, and South America.
P. polystachys, B. Br. Nepal, Khassya, Malacca, Singapore, China, Japan. P. elongatus, P. Chinensis, Swt., China.
P. cupressina, R. Br., Penang, Java.
P. macrophylla, Wall. ; P. maki, S. and Z., Chinensis, Wall., Japan, Amboyna, Nepal, Penang.
P. Koraiana, Sieb., Japan. P. nageia, R. Br., Japan. P. Japonica, Sieb., Japan. P. cuspidata, Endl., Japan.
P. grandifolia, Ead/., Japan. P. spicata, Brown, N. Zealand. P. totara, Don, N. Zealand.
P. bracteata, Bt., N. Zealand, Borneo.
P. latifolia, Watt., N. Zealand.
P. neriifolia, Don, N. Zealand, Burma.
P. amara, Blame, grows on the volcanic moun tains of Java, to the height of 200 feet..
P. bracteata, Blairsville, attains to 80 feet, of Java, up to 3000 feet ; also in Borneo, Burma, and Andamans.
P. cupressina, I. Brown, is of Java and the Philippines, grows 180 feet high, and furnishes a highly valuable timber.
P. dacryoides, A. Richard, of the swampy ground of New Zealand, is the Kahi Katea of the Maoris and the white pine of the colonists. It is a tall, gregarious tree, grows to 150 feet, with a diameter of 4 feet.
P. ferruginea, Don, is the Miro, a large timber tree of New Zealand ; attains the height of 30 to 40 feet, and 6 to 8 in circumference. Its timber is red and hard, and it yields a dark-red coloured gum-resin.—G. Bennett, p. 415.
P. latifolia, IVall. Pl. As., the Neerainbali or
Nerve tree of the Tamils, is a tall, erect tree of Tounghoo, Khassya, the South Tinnevelly moun tains, and Courtallum. It was the first conifer detected in Southern India. It is exceedingly ornamental when only a few fe-t in height, and well worth cultivating ; it flowers in August and September, and ripens its fruit in January and February ; the tree is abundant on the hills above Calcad in the dense moist forests, at 3000 to 5000 feet elevation. The timber appears to be very good.—Beddome, Fl. Sylv.
P. neriifolia, Don, Theetmin, BURM., meaning the prince of trees. These are large trees with stems not very regularly shaped, and found on the higher hills between Sitang and Slwin rivers, and on the range which skirts the coast of the Tenasserim provinces in British Burma. The wood is close grained, and a cubic foot weighs 50 lbs. The average length of the trunk to the first branch is 20 feet, and average girth measured at 6 feet from the ground is 6 feet.—Brandis' Cal. Cat. Ex., 1862 ; Boyle's Ill. Him. Bat. p. 349 ; Gamble.
P. totara is the totara or mahogany pine, the most valuable timber tree of New Zealand. It grows to 80 or 90 feet, with 15 or 20 feet in circumference. Its timber is of a red colour, darkened by age and exposure, excellent in plank or spar for durability and lightness.—G. Bennett, p. 415.