Pencil Pine
Athrotaxis cupressoides
Family Cupressaceae
Vulnerable (IUCN) — ancient, fire-sensitive conifer
About
A slow-growing Tasmanian endemic conifer that can live over 1,000 years, growing roughly 12mm in diameter per year. Highly fire-sensitive, with mature stands representing centuries of undisturbed growth.
How to spot it
A conical evergreen tree to about 20m with small, overlapping, scale-like leaves 2-3mm long pressed tightly against the stem, and light brown, fibrous bark that furrows with age. Look for stands fringing alpine tarns, as at the Tarn Shelf circuit.
Documented on these trails
Found in
- Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park
- Walls of Jerusalem National Park — Tasmania hikes
- Mount Field National Park
Source: Wikipedia — Athrotaxis cupressoides
Photo: Scruffy Bay Morton (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons