Puneet Varma (Editor)

Actinostrobus pyramidalis

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Kingdom
  
Class
  
Pinopsida

Family
  
Scientific name
  
Actinostrobus pyramidalis

Division
  
Pinophyta

Order
  
Subfamily
  
Callitroideae

Rank
  
Species

Actinostrobus pyramidalis Actinostrobus pyramidalis Miq FloraBase Flora of Western Australia

Similar
  
Actinostrobus, Actinostrobus arenarius, Callitris monticola, Callitris roei, Callitris macleayana

Actinostrobus pyramidalis, commonly known as swamp cypress, Swan River cypress and King George's cypress pine, is a species of coniferous tree in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). Like the other species in the genus Actinostrobus, it is endemic to southwestern Western Australia.

Actinostrobus pyramidalis Swamp cypress videos photos and facts Actinostrobus pyramidalis

Swamp cypress is a shrub or small tree, reaching eight metres tall. The leaves are evergreen and scale-like, except on young seedlings, where they are needle-like. The leaves are arranged in six rows along the twigs, in alternating whorls of three. The male cones are small, 3–6 mm long, and are located at the tips of the twigs. The female cones start out similarly inconspicuous, but mature in 18–20 months to 1–2 cm with a rounded apex.

Actinostrobus pyramidalis Swamp cypress photo Actinostrobus pyramidalis G101920 ARKive

The cones open and release the seeds only upon drying. They tend to remain closed on the trees for many years, opening only if the branch, or the whole tree, dies. Bushfire kills swamp cypress, but it also causes a great many seeds to be released all at once, resulting in prolific regeneration. In one case, an isolated tree on Jeegarnyeejip Island was killed by fire, and the following winter there were 800 seedlings per square metre within a couple of metres of the original specimen, and about 150 per square metre ten metres away.

Actinostrobus pyramidalis Australian Seed CALLITRIS pyramidalis syn ACTINOSTROBUS pyramidalis

The species was first collected from Perth in September 1841 by Johann Preiss, and a description was published by Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel in 1845 as Actinostrobus pyramidalis. A 2010 study of the genera Actinostrobus and Callitris found that all three species of Actinostrobus lay within the current concept of Callitris based on analysis of 42 morphological and anatomical characters, hence Actinostrobus pyramidalis was renamed Callitris pyramidalis.

Actinostrobus pyramidalis wwwconifersorgcuacp1jpg
Actinostrobus pyramidalis Actinostrobus pyramidalis Swan River cypress description

References

Actinostrobus pyramidalis Wikipedia