User:Solistide/sandbox/Podocarpus

Podocarpus (from the Greek, podos, meaning "foot", and karpos, meaning "fruit") is a genus of conifers, the most numerous and widely distributed of the podocarp family, Podocarpaceae. Podocarpus are evergreen shrubs or trees usually from 1 to 25 meters tall, known to reach 40 meters at times. The leaves are 0.5 to 15 cm long, lanceolate to oblong or falcate (sickle-shaped) in some species, with a distinct midrib. They are arranged spirally, though in some species twisted to appear in two horizontal ranks. The cones have two to five fused scales, of which only one, rarely two, are fertile, each fertile scale has one apical seed. At maturity, the scales become berry-like, swollen, brightly coloured red to purple and fleshy, and are eaten by birds which then disperse the seeds in their droppings. The male (pollen) cones are 5 to 20 mm long, often clustered several together. Many species, though not all, are dioecious. There are approximately 104 to 107 species in the genus.

Podocarpus and the Podocarpaceae were endemic to the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana, which broke up into Africa, South America, India, Australia-New Guinea, New Zealand, and New Caledonia between 105 and 45 million years ago. Podocarpus is a characteristic tree of the Antarctic flora, which originated in the cool, moist climate of southern Gondwana, and elements of the flora survive in the humid temperate regions of the former supercontinent. As the continents drifted north and became drier and hotter, Podocarps and other members of the Antarctic flora generally retreated to humid regions, especially in Australia, where sclerophyll genera like Acacia and Eucalyptus became predominant, and the old Antarctic flora retreated to pockets that presently cover only 2% of the continent. As Australia drifted north toward Asia, the collision pushed up the Indonesian archipelago and the mountains of New Guinea, which allowed podocarp species to hop across the narrow straits into humid Asia, with P. macrophyllus reaching north to southern China and Japan. The flora of Malesia, which includes the Malay peninsula, Indonesia, the Philippines, and New Guinea, is generally derived from Asia but includes many elements of the old Gondwana flora, including several other genera in the Podocarpaceae (Dacrycarpus, Dacrydium, Falcatifolium, Nageia, Phyllocladus, and the Malesian endemic Sundacarpus), and also Agathis in the Araucariaceae.

Classification
There are two subgenera, subgenus Podocarpus and subgenus Foliolatus, distinguished by cone and seed morphology.

In Podocarpus, the cone is not subtended by lanceolate bracts, and the seed usually has an apical ridge. Species are distributed in the temperate forests of Tasmania, New Zealand, and southern Chile, with a few occurring in the tropical highlands of Africa and the Americas.

In Foliolatus, the cone is subtended by two lanceolate bracts ("foliola"), and the seed usually lacks an apical ridge. The species are tropical and subtropical, concentrated in eastern and southeastern Asia and Malesia, overlapping with subgenus Podocarpus in northeastern Australia and New Caledonia.

Species in family Podocarpaceae have been reshuffled a number of times based on genetic and physiological evidence, with many species formerly assigned to genus Podocarpus now assigned to other genera. A sequence of classification schemes have moved species between Nageia and Podocarpus, and in 1969 de Laubenfels divided the huge genus Podocarpus into Dacrycarpus, Decussocarpus (an invalid name he later revised to the valid Nageia), Prumnopitys, and Podocarpus.

Some species of genus Afrocarpus were formerly in Podocarpus, such as Afrocarpus gracilior.


 * Species
 * Subgenus Podocarpus
 * section Podocarpus (eastern and southern Africa)
 * Podocarpus elongatus
 * Podocarpus latifolius
 * Podocarpus falcatus
 * section Scytopodium (Madagascar, eastern Africa)
 * Podocarpus capuronii
 * Podocarpus henkelii
 * Podocarpus humbertii
 * Podocarpus madagascariensis
 * Podocarpus rostratus
 * section Australis (southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, southern Chile) [[Image:PodocarpusTotara2.jpg|thumb|right|[[Podocarpus totara|P. totara]]]]
 * Podocarpus alpinus
 * Podocarpus cunninghamii
 * Podocarpus gnidioides
 * Podocarpus lawrencei
 * Podocarpus nivalis
 * Podocarpus nubigenus
 * Podocarpus totara
 * section Crassiformis (northeast Queensland)
 * Podocarpus smithii
 * section Capitulatis (central Chile, southern Brazil, the Andes from northern Argentina to Ecuador)
 * Podocarpus glomeratus
 * Podocarpus lambertii
 * Podocarpus parlatorei
 * Podocarpus salignus
 * Podocarpus sellowii
 * Podocarpus sprucei
 * Podocarpus transiens
 * section Pratensis (southeast Mexico to Guyana and Peru)
 * Podocarpus oleifolius
 * Podocarpus pendulifolius
 * Podocarpus tepuiensis
 * section Lanceolatis (southern Mexico, Puerto Rico, Lesser Antilles, Venezuela to highland Bolivia)
 * Podocarpus coriaceus
 * Podocarpus matudai
 * Podocarpus rusbyi
 * Podocarpus salicifolius
 * Podocarpus steyermarkii
 * section Pumilis (southern Caribbean islands and Guyana highlands)
 * Podocarpus angustifolius
 * Podocarpus aristulatus
 * Podocarpus buchholzii
 * Podocarpus roraimae
 * Podocarpus urbanii
 * section Nemoralis (central and northern South America, south to Bolivia)
 * Podocarpus brasiliensis
 * Podocarpus celatus
 * Podocarpus guatemalensis
 * Podocarpus magnifolius
 * Podocarpus purdieanus
 * Podocarpus trinitensis


 * Subgenus Foliolatus
 * section Foliolatus (Nepal to Sumatra, Philippines, and New Guinea to Tonga) [[Image:Podocarpus neriifolius in Koishikawa gardens.jpg|thumb|right|[[Podocarpus neriifolius|P. neriifolius]]]]
 * Podocarpus archboldii
 * Podocarpus beecherae
 * Podocarpus borneensis
 * Podocarpus deflexus
 * Podocarpus insularis
 * Podocarpus levis
 * Podocarpus neriifolius
 * Podocarpus novae-caledoniae
 * Podocarpus pallidus
 * Podocarpus rubens
 * Podocarpus spathoides
 * section Acuminatus (northern Queensland, New Guinea, New Britain, Borneo)
 * Podocarpus dispermus
 * Podocarpus ledermannii
 * Podocarpus micropedunculatus
 * section Globulus (Taiwan to Vietnam, Sumatra and Borneo, and New Caledonia)
 * Podocarpus annamiensis
 * Podocarpus globulus
 * Podocarpus lucienii
 * Podocarpus nakai
 * Podocarpus sylvestris
 * Podocarpus teysmannii
 * section Longifoliolatus (Sumatra and Borneo, East to Fiji)
 * Podocarpus atjehensis
 * Podocarpus bracteatus
 * Podocarpus confertus
 * Podocarpus decumbens
 * Podocarpus degeneri
 * Podocarpus gibbsii
 * Podocarpus longifoliolatus
 * Podocarpus polyspermus
 * Podocarpus pseudobracteatus
 * Podocarpus salomoniensis
 * section Gracilis (southern China, across Malesia to Fiji)
 * Podocarpus affinis
 * Podocarpus glaucus
 * Podocarpus lophatus
 * Podocarpus pilgeri
 * Podocarpus rotundus
 * section Macrostachyus (Southeast Asia to New Guinea)
 * Podocarpus brassii
 * Podocarpus brevifolius
 * Podocarpus costalis
 * Podocarpus crassigemmis
 * Podocarpus tixieri
 * section Rumphius (Hainan, south through Malesia to northern Queensland)
 * Podocarpus grayii
 * Podocarpus laubenfelsii
 * Podocarpus rumphii
 * section Polystachyus (southern China and Japan, through Malaya to New Guinea and northeast Australia)
 * Podocarpus chinensis
 * Podocarpus chingianus
 * Podocarpus elatus
 * Podocarpus fasciculus
 * Podocarpus macrocarpus
 * Podocarpus macrophyllus
 * Podocarpus polystachyus
 * Podocarpus ridleyi
 * Podocarpus subtropicalis
 * section Spinulosus (Southeast and southwest coasts of Australia)
 * Podocarpus drouynianus
 * Podocarpus spinulosus

Allergenic potential
Male Podocarpus are extremely allergenic, and have an OPALS allergy scale rating of 10 out of 10. Conversely, completely female Podocarpus plants have an OPALS rating of 1, and are considered "allergy-fighting", as they capture pollen while producing none.

Podocarpus are related to yews, and, as with yews, the stems, leaves, flowers, and pollen of Podocarpus are all poisonous. Additionally, the leaves, stems, bark, and pollen are cytotoxic. The male Podocarpus blooms and releases this cytotoxic pollen in the spring and early summer. Heavy exposure to the pollen, such as with a male Podocarpus planted near a bedroom window, can produce symptoms that mimic the cytotoxic side effects of chemotherapy.

Uses
Several species of Podocarpus are grown as garden trees, or trained into hedges, espaliers, or screens. Common garden species used for their attractive deep green foliage and neat habits include P. macrophyllus, known commonly as Buddhist pine, fern pine, or kusamaki, P. salignus from Chile, and P. nivalis, a smaller, red-fruited shrub. Some members of the genera Nageia, Prumnopitys and Afrocarpus are marketed under the genus name Podocarpus.

The red, purple or bluish fleshy fruit of most species of Podocarpus are edible, raw or cooked into jams or pies. They have a mucilaginous texture with a slightly sweet flavor. However, they are slightly toxic and should be eaten only in small amounts, especially when raw. Tolerates drought, deer, disease, seaside

Some species of Podocarpus are used in systems of traditional medicine for conditions such as fevers, coughs, arthritis, sexually transmitted diseases, and canine distemper.

A chemotherapy drug used in treatment of leukemia is made from Podocarpus.