A plant in habitat, showing foliage and a mature seed cone. iNaturalist observation 141687772 [Franck Rakotonasolo, 2022.10].
A plant in habitat, showing foliage and a mature seed cone. iNaturalist observation 141687772 [Franck Rakotonasolo, 2022.10].
Podocarpus humbertii
None are known. The scientific name would transliterate as "Humbert's podocarp".
Type: Madagascar, Antsiranana Prov., Anjanaharibe Massif, Mont Anjanaharibe, slopes and N summit, H. Humbert et al. 2474 Here is the holotype at P (accessed 2022.12.23). No synonyms.
There are, in this treatment, five species and two varieties of Podocarpus on Madagascar, all endemic. They all belong to subgenus Podocarpus, section Scytopodium (de Laubenfels 1985). The only molecular taxonomic work to consider this group is the Podocarpaceae-wide molecular and morphological study by Knopf et al. (2012), which considered 2 of the 7 taxa (P. capuronii and P. madagascariensis var. madagascariensis) and assigned them to a clade shared with all of the African species. Leaf cuticle micromorphology has also proven to be a useful source of taxonomic characters in Podocarpus, and the analysis by Stockey et al. (1998), considering all Madagascar taxa of Podocarpus, found them very similar, which suggests that P. humbertii shares a clade with those other taxa.
Dioecious shrubs or trees to 15 m tall. Bark exfoliating in small flakes, brown weathering to gray. Twigs spreading to erect, slender, round. Foliage buds subglobose with imbricate, triangular, obtuse scales. Leaves not dimorphic; crowded at tips of twigs, spreading at <50° from shoot, petiolate, overlapping each other and downcurved; obovate to oblanceolate, 7-15 × 2-4 mm; margins flat or slightly revolute; coriaceous, dark green above and paler green below; upper midrib inconspicuous, discontinuous, or in a groove; lower midrib continuous and wider, but flattened; apex obtuse, rounded, or sometimes acuminate. Pollen cones axillary in 1's and 2's on 3-6 mm peduncles, 8-20 × 2.5-3 mm. Seed cones axillary, solitary on 2-3 mm peduncles, the receptacle at maturity 3-5 × 2.5-4 mm, coriaceous. Seed solitary, ovoid-globose, within epimatium 11-15 × 9-12 mm, with a small inconspicuous crest (Farjon 2010).
The species is distinct from all other Madagascar Podocarpus in its remarkably small leaves; in any other species that occasionally bears such small leaves, they will be only 1-2 mm wide (Farjon 2010).
Madagascar: Antsiranana Province, where it occurs at elevations of 1600-2410(-2800?) m in subhumid forest, dry lowland deciduous forest, and ericaceous thickets on gneiss and granite mountain summits (Farjon 2010).
Distribution data for all species native to Madagascar, based on identified specimens listed by GBIF (2023). Each point includes a link to more data and, in most cases, an image. Podocarpus humbertii shown in purple.
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 distribution, coupled with continuing decline in number and size of surviving populations.
No data as of 2023.02.05.
No uses are reported, but like other small trees in the region, it is likely used for firewood on occasion (Farjon 2010).
See the map above and the cited iNaturalist observation.
The epithet honors H. Humbert, who collected the type specimen in 1950.
Laubenfels, D. J. de. 1971. Deux nouveaux Podocarpus endemiques de Madagascar. Adansonia ser. 2, 11(4):714-715. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2022.12.23.
Stockey, Ruth A., Brenda J. Frevel, and Philippe Woltz. 1998. Cuticle micromorphology of Podocarpus, subgenus Podocarpus, section Scytopodium (Podocarpaceae) of Madagascar and South Africa. International Journal of Plant Sciences 159(6):923-940.
The species account at Threatened Conifers of the World (no photos).
Last Modified 2023-02-26
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