I have not found any photographs of living plants. Mill (2015) provides excellent line drawings.
I have not found any photographs of living plants. Mill (2015) provides excellent line drawings.
Podocarpus ekmanii
Sabina cimarrona (Gardner and Gonzalez Torres 2013).
Type: Cuba, Sierra de Cristal "secus rivulum ad Rio Levisa affluentem in charrascales" 800–900 m alt., m. Mart., fruct.”, 1916, E.L. Ekman 6790. See Mill (2015) for notes on the type. Perhaps due to its very small leaves, most authors have recognized it as a distinct species, although de Laubenfels (1985), Farjon (1998), and Eckenwalder (2009) chose to synonymize it with Podocarpus angustifolius. See P. angustifolius for notes on phylogenetic relationships between the Caribbean species of Podocarpus.
Evergreen dioecious shrub or small tree to 8 m tall and 30 cm dbh, with a crown of numerous, spreading or ascending branches. Bark thin, exfoliating in small flakes, light brown weathering dark gray. Twigs slender, round, greenish, fading to dark gray or brown in later years. Terminal buds ovoid-globose, 1.5-2.5 × 1.5-2 mm, with imbricate, broad-ovate, keeled scales, the outer layer of scales with an acuminate apex. Leaves clustered near the ends of twigs, spreading from the twig at 40–75°, elliptic, 11-31 × 2-5 mm, 4-9 times longer than wide, straight or slightly curved, coriaceous, stiff, purplish red or yellow-green when flushing, maturing lustrous green above and whitish green below, with a slightly twisted short-petiolate base and an acuminate apex. Midrib 0.5 mm wide, slightly raised on upper side, often fading toward apex; more prominent and continuous on lower side. Stomata small in many white lines on either side of lower midrib. Pollen cones axillary, ripe at same time as leaf flushing, each solitary but 1–3 per branchlet, very shortly pedunculate, 8–11 × 2–3.5 mm, straight or sometimes distally curved. Pollen white. Seed cones receptive late April, maturing c.1 year later; axillary on 1-2 mm peduncles very short (1–2 mm), ripe receptacles swelling to 10 × 6 mm, succulent, purplish ripening to bright red, but still bearing free acute bract apices. Seeds in epimatium 6-7 × 3.5-4 mm, ovoid with a crested distal ridge (Farjon 2010, Mill 2015).
Podocarpus ekmanii leaves are never more than 35 mm long; no other Cuban species has such small leaves, though P. buchii on Hispaniola does. P. buchii often have ovate or lanceolate leaves that are broadest below the middle, but P. ekmanii always has elliptic leaves. P. ekmanii differs from elliptic-leaved specimens of P. buchii through its narrow leaves (mostly 1.3–4.5 mm) and its a much shorter and less pungent arista (Mill 2015).
Cuba: Baracoa, Sierra de Cristal, Sierra Moa, and Altiplanicie de Monte Iberia, all in the eastern part of the island. Occurs at elevations of (200–)450–900(–1100) m on both serpentine and limestone soils in a tropical submontane and montane rainforest. Dominant vegetation includes Hieronyma nipensis and Bonnetia cubensis. It is also a canopy species in montane wet woodlands, along with Byrsonima coriacea, Calophyllum utile, Sideroxylon jubilla, Ocotea leucoxylon, and endemics including Pinus cubensis. In mogotes (limestone karst hills) in Guantánamo it occurs in a three-layered calcicolous microphyllous low evergreen forest, with P. ekmanii present in all three layers (Mill 2015 and sources cited therein).
Distribution data for all species native to the Caribbean, based on confirmed specimens cited by Mill (2015), using data from herbarium sheets. Data include both latitude/longitude and narrative location descriptions; coordinate uncertainty generally <5000 m. Podocarpus ekmanii shown in blue.
Symbiotic relationships include the mistletoe Dendrophthora podocarpicola and a variety of other epiphytes, notably the carnivorous Pinguicula lignicola (also epiphytic on Podocarpus aristulatus) (Mill 2015 and sources cited therein).
The IUCN assesses P. ekmanii as "Least Concern", citing a lack of evidence that local deforestation or mining are contributing to population declines, as well as its occurrence in two national parks where it receives protection(Gardner and Gonzalez Torres 2013).
No data as of 2023.01.15.
Medicinal use is reported, but without any further explanation (Molinet et al. 1998 as cited by Mill 2015).
The species occurs in the Parque Nacional Alexander von Humboldt and the Parque Nacional La Mensura Pilotos, and can be located at appropriate elevations in those areas.
The epithet honors Erik Leonard Ekman (1883–1931), who collected in Argentina, Brazil, Cuba and Hispaniola, including the type specimen of this species (Mill 2015).
Gardner, M. and L. Roberto Gonzalez Torres. 2013. Podocarpus ekmanii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T191533A15681434. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T191533A15681434.en, accessed 2023.01.15.
Mill, R. R. 2015. A monographic revision of the genus Podocarpus (Podocarpaceae): II. The species of the Caribbean bioregion. Edinburgh Journal of Botany 72 (1): 61–185. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0960428614000328.
Molinet, J. R., B. R. Duran, and M. Baguet. 1998. Usos alternativos de los arboles y arbustos de Cuba. https://documentacion.ideam.gov.co/openbiblio/bvirtual/005039/tema5/Ram%C3%ADrezJose.PDF, accessed 2013.12.05, now defunct.
Urban, Ignatz. 1922. Repertorium specierum novarum regni vegetabilis 18:17. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2023.01.15.
No data as of 2023.01.15.
Last Modified 2023-02-26
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