Podocarpus globulus

de Laubenfels 1985

Common names

Sapiro [Lawas and Murut] (de Laubenfels 1988).

Taxonomic notes

Description

Trees to 27 m tall and 45 cm dbh, with a erect round trunk and branches spreading to form a rounded crown. Bark first smooth, brown, later developing small, flaky scales. Twigs round, slightly grooved, bearing compact round buds 2-3 mm diameter composed of imbricate scales with entire margins. Leaves on juvenile/understory plants broad-lanceolate 7.5-16 × 1.5-2.5 cm, straight, coriaceous, abruptly acuminate. Leaves on mature/canopy plants lanceolate, 3.5-8 × 0.9-1.5 cm, straight, coriaceous, tapering to a petiolate base and a variable (acuminate to obtuse) tip, with a narrow raised midrib on upper side, nearly flat on the lower. Pollen cones axillary, in small clusters of 1-3, subsessile, cylindrical, 25-45 × 3-4 mm, microsporophylls 1 mm long with a triangular apex. Seed cones axillary, solitary on a stiff 3-5 mm peduncle; receptacles slender, ca. 10 mm long, of two lobes of which one is fertile, swelling and ripening red. Seeds with epimatium 7-9 × 5-6 mm with a small crest, green turning dark brown (de Laubenfels 1988, Farjon 2010).

Distribution and Ecology

Malaysia (Sarawak, Sabah); perhaps Indonesia (Kalimantan). Found in primary rainforest or moss forest on ridges and peak at 300-1500 m elevation in areas where the forest is not dominated by dipterocarps. Evidently adapted to ultramafic soils (de Laubenfels 1988).

The IUCN reports that this species is in decline. It is facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild due to severe fragmentation of its existing range (fewer than five known locations), coupled with past and ongoing loss of habitat.

Remarkable Specimens

Ethnobotany

Observations

Remarks

Citations

See also

The species account at Threatened Conifers of the World.