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Podocarpus oleifolius
Podocarpaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Podocarpus oleifolius

Podocarpus oleifolius

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
Growth—

Podocarpus oleifolius is a plant of moderate to high elevations in the American tropics. Within its range, the mean annual temperature is 16.8°c, with an average minimum in the coldest month of 10.0°c, and a mean annual precipitation of 1,940mm. It can tolerate short-lived, light frosts with temperatures falling to around -1°c and +4.4°c[1]. Plants are shade tolerant, at least when young[2]. Most species in this genus are tolerant of hard pruning, being able to regrow from old wood[2]. All parts of the plant emit an unpleasant aroma[3]. Species in this genus are generally slow-growing[4]. A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required.

Propagation

Seed - generally slow to germinate, taking one year or more[2]. Seeds that have passed through the gut of an animal germinate faster[2]. Cuttings should include an erect lead shoot if a good form is required[2]. If side shoots are used, the resulting plant will be prostrate[2]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Podocarpus+oleifolius>

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]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.
  3. [3]Flora of Costa Rica — Standley P.C. · Field Museum of Natural History; Chicago · 1938 · http://www.archive.org/ ↩︎Rather dated, but an excellent treatment of the area. Available for download from the internet.
  4. [4]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.
  5. [5]Flora of Peru — Macbride. J.F. · Field Museum of Natural History · 1936 ↩︎An excellent attempt at a Flora of Peru, though it is clear that many of the plants were imperfectly known at that time and so information on them was sketchy. Available for download from the Internet.
  6. [6]Flora of Guatemala — Standley P.C. & J. A. Steyermark · 1946 - 1976 · http://www.archive.org/ ↩︎A superb reference, though somewhat dated. Gives lots of plant uses as well as information on plant habit and habitat. The entire flora (13 volumes) can now be downloaded from http://www.archive.org/
  7. [7]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.
  8. [8]Tropical Timbers of the World. Ag. Handbook No. 607. — Chudnoff. Martin. · USDA Forest Service. Wisconsin. · 1984 ↩︎Terse details on the properties of the wood of almost 400 species of trees from the Tropics.