Podocarpus laetus, Hooibr. ex Endlicher, 1847

Molloy, B. P. J., 2015, The correct name for the New Zealand endemic conifer Hall’s totara (Araucariales: Podocarpaceae), Phytotaxa 220 (2), pp. 101-116 : 103-104

Podocarpus laetus

Endlicher’s description of Podocarpus laetus (as laeta) translates to read: ‘Eupodocarp with leaves spreading everywhere, linearly subfalcate (1½ inches: 1 line) mucronate, one-nerved, marked underneath near the nerve on both sides by a glaucus green line, with obtuse leaf-bud scales ’ [italics mine] ( Endlicher 1847: 214). This description, brief as it is, does not match P. spinulosus , particularly with respect to its leaf-bud scales, but also its leaf characters. Consequently, P. laetus is not synonymous with P. spinulosus as has been suggested by Hill (1998: 557), the Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), and the Australian Plant Census (CHAR); both accessed 28 May 2015. Podocarpus laetus (as laeta) was also listed, and presumably accepted, in the aforementioned publications of Lindley & Gordon (1851), Dietrich (1852), Carrière (1855), Gordon (1858), Henkel & Hochstetter (1865), Hoopes (1868), and Parlatore (1868). In addition, P. laetus (as laeta) featured in early studies of the epidermis and chloroplasts of conifers and other species in relation to climate and other factors eg., Gruss (1885), Eichler & Prantl (1887) and Vouk, who also included an illustration of the chloroplasts of P. laetus (Vouk 1908: 1351, Fig. 4 ). The material used in these studies was obtained either from European institutional gardens or commercial traders, or other sources.

Two questions arise: What contemporary conifer does P. laetus represent; and is its stated origin in eastern Australia correct, or an error to be corrected?

Figures

FIGURE 4. Terminal resting bud of live shoot of Podocarpus totara (J.H.Johns).