Unveiling the Magic of Podocarpus in The Perfect Hedge
The name Podocarpus is derived from a Greek language. ‘Podus’ means foot and ‘karpous’ means fruit. The family of Podocarpus, that is Podocarpaceae consists of 97 to 107 species. They are commonly called ‘yellow-wood’ or ‘pine’.
Podocarpus Dispersion
Podocarpus are the most widely distributed Podocarp family. The plant is native to Africa, Asia, Australia, Central and Southern America, and many Pacific Islands. In ancient times it was endemic to Africa, South America, India, and New Zealand for some time about 105 to 45 million years. It is also known as Antarctic flora.
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These are evergreen woody plants. Their height ranges from 3 ft to 82 ft (that is 1 to 25 m). It can reach up to a maximum height of 40 m. The primary branches are called pseudo whorls. Pseudo-whorls is the whorling of leaves around the main trunk. The bark of the plants of this family is characterized by scaly and fibrous texture.
The terminal buds of the plant are mostly distinctive by bud scales. The leaves of the plant are simple and flattened by an arrangement of leaves or phyllotaxy to spiral. The plants of this family are mostly dioecious that is male reproductive parts pollen found in male cones and female reproductive parts, and seeds found in female cone lies on two different plants. Few exceptional plant species of family are monoecious.
The seed cones consist of 2-5 scales. These scale fuses to form fleshly berry fruit on maturity. Those cones having 1 scale are considered to be sterile. The cone fruits are mostly red, pink, or bluish in color. These colorful and fruity beery-like fruits attract birds and insects. This helps in the dispersion of seeds by the birds and insects.
Sensitivity of Podocarpus
Podocarpus is highly sensitive and causes extreme allergies. The pollen grains of the plants rate 10/10 on the OPAL (Ogren Plant Allergy) rating scale. The female cone rates 1/10 on the OPAL scale. Thus it is called an ‘allergy fighting’ cone.
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