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Podocarpaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Dacrydium cupressinum

Dacrydium cupressinum

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
GrowthSlow

Dacrydium cupressinum Within its range, mean annual temperature is 10.4°C, with an average minimum in the coldest month of 1.2°C, and a mean annual precipitation of 2633 mm[1]. (cold hardiness limit between -6.6°C and -1.1°C[1]. Requires a light, freely draining soil in a sheltered position with protection from cold winds[2]. Requires high rainfall and humidity if it is to succeed. It tolerates shade and probably requires it in drier areas if the tree is to survive. Requires warm humid summers and mild humid winters if it is to grow well, and even then it is very slow growing[3]. It is best grown in a woodland garden[4]. This species is only hardy in the very mildest areas of the country and does not really thrive even there[5, 6]. A tree on the Scilly Isles was 9 metres tall in 1970[7]. Seed from a more alpine provenance might be more successful[8]. A dioecious species, both male and female forms must be grown if fruit and seed are required[1]. Logging and forest clearing have reduced the population historically, these activities have now ceased. Due to changes in land use which are permanent, the population became fragmented, although not severely fragmented in an IUCN sense. Regeneration is causing the population to increase again[9]. A dominant or codominant emergent in mixed conifer (podocarp) forest or conifer-angiosperm forest at low to middle elevations up to 700 m a.s.l. These forests are (warm) temperate evergreen rain forests with year-round high precipitation and are multi-layered with emergent conifers, a canopy of conifers and/or angiosperms, an understorey of shrubs, tree ferns and palms, and a ground cover of ferns and mosses. In the kauri forest of Northland D. Cupressinum is a minor component, but in other forest types it is often the most common species, sometimes occurring in nearly pure stands. Very large specimens may be around 1,000 years old, but few of these survive today in only remnants of a once extensive native lowland forest cover[9]. Due to severe depletion of this natural resource, exploitation has been halted and this species is now protected from logging by law. As a slow growing tree it is not considered suitable for plantation forestry and it finds only limited use as an amenity tree in gardens and parks, mainly in New Zealand[9]. regeneration takes place continually beneath an intact forest canopy. Initially very large numbers of seedling are produced, which experience very high mortality within a few years. The surviving sapling and small trees may persist beneath the canopy for 100 to 400 years, during which time they grow exceedingly slowly. When a gap-phase event such as windthrow or death of an overstory tree creates a localized opening in the canopy, the pole-size trees may be able to exploit the improved light environment and finally become canopy codominant trees[1].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a freely draining compost[2]. It usually germinates in 1 - 3 months at 20°c[2]. Another report says that the seed can be very slow to germinate and that it is best sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe[3]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Cuttings of short leading shoots in early autumn[5]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Dacrydium+cupressinum>

Pollinators

Wind

References

  1. [1]The Gymnosperm Database — http://www.conifers.org/index.htm ↩︎A vast amount of information on conifers and families of gymnosperms.
  2. [2]Growing from Seed. Volume 4. — Bird. R. (Editor) · Thompson and Morgan. · 1990 · ISBN - ↩︎Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. A good article on Yuccas, one on Sagebrush (Artemesia spp) and another on Chaerophyllum bulbosum.
  3. [3]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  4. [4]The Milder Garden. — Taylor. J. · Dent · 1990 ↩︎A good book on plants that you didn't know could be grown outdoors in Britain.
  5. [5]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  6. [6]Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. — Bean. W. · Murray · 1981 · ISBN - ↩︎A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.
  7. [7]Conifers in the British Isles. — Mitchell. A. F. · HMSO · 1975 · ISBN 0-11-710012-9 ↩︎A bit out of date (first published in 1972), but an excellent guide to how well the various species of conifers grow in Britain giving locations of trees.
  8. [8]Conifers. — Rushforth. K. · Christopher Helm · 1987 · ISBN 0-7470-2801-X ↩︎Deals with conifers that can be grown outdoors in Britain. Good notes on cultivation and a few bits about plant uses.
  9. [9]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  10. [10]Flora of New Zealand. — Allan. H. H. · Government Printer, Wellington. · 1961 · http://floraseries.landcareresearch.co.nz/pages/Book.aspx?fileName=Flora%201.xml · ISBN - ↩︎The standard work, in 5 volumes though only the first two are of interest to the plant project. Very good on habitats. There is also an on-line version.
  11. [11]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  12. [12]Economic Native Plants of New Zealand. — Brooker. S. G., Cambie. R. C. and Cooper. R. C. · Oxford University Press · 1991 · ISBN 0-19-558229-2 ↩︎An interesting and readable book on the useful plants of New Zealand.
  13. [13]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  14. [14]Native Edible Plants of New Zealand. — Crowe. A. · Hodder and Stoughton · 1990 · ISBN 0-340-508302 ↩︎A very well written and illustrated book based on the authors own experiments with living on a native diet.
  15. [15]Plants of New Zealand. — Laing. and Blackwell. · Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd · 1907 · ISBN - ↩︎An old flora of New Zealand in a readable style. Some details of plant uses.
  16. [16]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  17. [17]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  18. [18]Economic Botany. — Hill. A. F. · The Maple Press · 1952 · ISBN - ↩︎Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some detail about the plants it does cover.