Scientific name: Dacrycarpus kinabaluensis (Wasscher) de Laubenfels 1969

Synonyms: Bracteocarpus kinabaluensis (Wasscher) A.V.Bobrov & Melikyan, Podocarpus imbricatus var. kinabaluensis Wasscher

Common names: Kinabalu dacrycarp

Description

Shrub, or tree to 13 m tall, with trunk to 0.3 m in diameter, often gnarled and contorted. Bark smooth, gray to black, flaky. Crown dense, irregular, conical to dome-shaped, with many short, crooked branches bearing numerous, tightly packed branchlets densely clothed with foliage. Short shoots nearly confined to juvenile plants. Leaves of short shoots in two flat rows, flattened side to side, (5-)10-15 mm long and 1-1.2 mm wide, largest in the middle of the shoot. Leaves of adult foliage shoots standing out away from and all around the twigs or lined up in five rows. Each leaf sickle-shaped, also predominantly flattened side to side, the midrib prominently raised on both sides, (1-)2-4(-6) mm long, (0.5-)0.8-1.0 mm wide, the tip curved forward and strongly prickly. Pollen cones about 8 mm long, 3 mm thick, borne at the sides of a very short branchlet about 3 mm long. Seed cones at the tip of a short branchlet 5-16 mm long, clasped to beyond the middle by a basal circle of free, leaflike bracts 5-8 mm long. Podocarpium warty, turning blue or purple at maturity, 2-4 mm long. Combined seed coat and epimatium nearly spherical to a little elongate, 5-7 mm long, 5-6 mm in diameter, reddish brown at maturity, with a low, inconspicuous crest whose free tip forms a prominent sideways beak about 1 mm long.

Known only from Mount Kinabalu in Sabah (Malaysia), northern Borneo (hence the name). Forming pure stands or codominant with other trees and shrubs in upper montane forests and subalpine shrublands, right up to the alpine tree line, often on serpentine-derived soils; (2,100-)2,600-3,500(-4,000) m.

Conservation Status

Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern

Although Dacrycarpus kinabaluensis has a very restricted distribution, there are no signs of decline or substantial damage to the population that could cause decline. Fire is a potential hazard, but is unlikely to affect substantial parts of the population which is widespread on the highest parts of the mountain. Most of the time the weather is wet with fog and rain and during dry periods a fire that was started would be localized.

Dacrycarpus kinabaluensis is a shrubby tree restricted to the upper montane forest and subalpine dwarf forest on Mt. Kinabalu (4,101 m). It occurs on this mountain from ca. 2,600 a.s.l. m up to the tree line at ca. 3,500 m. Dacrycarpus imbricatus occurs to at least 2,400 m and possibly higher on this mountain, but is a tree of taller forest. Dacrycarpus kinabaluensis is growing predominantly on ultramafic rock but becomes one of the dominant shrubs above 3,000 m on granite. It can form dense, nearly pure stands but is commonly associated with other conifers, e.g. Dacrydium gracile, Dacrydium gibbsiae, Phyllocladus hypophyllus and Podocarpus brevifolius. Angiosperm trees are often scarce but heather-like tall shrubs and dwarfed trees are common with Rhododendron spp. and Leptospermum spp. the most abundant. There is often a thick moss layer on the forest floor, in which orchids and pitcher plants (Nepenthes spp.) are common, and epiphytes are abundant on the shrubs and low trees.

This species is only known from the higher parts of Mt. Kinabalu and consequently occupies only a small area probably less than 100 km² in extent. On the other hand, being in the centre of one of the better protected National Parks in the whole of SE Asia provides it with a degree of protection, and no decline is known at present. Increased tourism might pose indirect threats to this species, for instance by increasing the incidence of fires in episodes of draught associated with El Niño climatic cycles.

This species occurs within a National Park at high altitude and is not used economically. As far as known it is not in cultivation except perhaps in a few botanic gardens and/or private collections.

Virtually the entire population of this species occurs within Mt. Kinabalu National Park.

References

Farjon, A. (2010). A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.
Eckenwalder, J.E. (2009) Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference. Timber Press, Portland.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Cambridge, UK /Gland, Switzerland