The species Lagarostrobos franklinii, known as Huon Pine or Macquarie Pine, is a species of conifer growing mainly in the wetter southeastern corner of Tasmania, Australia. It is a slow growing tree whose timber was highly prized for its golden yellow colour, fine grain and natural oils that resisted rotting. Some living specimens of this tree are in excess of 2000 years in age.
A stand of trees reputed to be in excess of 10,500 years in age was recently found in North Western Tasmania on Mt Read. Each of the trees in this stand is a genetically identical male that has reproduced vegetatively. Although no single tree in this stand is of that age, the stand itself as a single organism has been in existence that long.
Heavy logging of the trees for its fine timber coupled with the tree's slow growth has led to remaining stands being less than 10,500 ha. The remaining stands of this species of tree now has protected status within the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
External links
Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/wha/whahome.html)
The genus was formerly included in Dacrydium, but de Laubenfels (2) segregated the genus Falcatifolium and Quinn (1) further segregated the genera Halocarpus, Lagarostrobos, and Lepidothamnus, leaving Dacrydium sensu strictu.
These segregations were made on the basis of differences in female cone morphology, a criterion that has been used as the taxonomic basis for differentiating all genera in the Podocarpaceae (1).
The genus appears relatively isolated in the family, although it may show a distant affinity with Lagarostrobos and Halocarpus, which are also devoid of axial xylem parenchyma and hypodermis and have no vascular fibres in the adult leaves" (1).
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