Podocarpus coriaceus


Podocarpus coriaceus, commonly known as the yucca plum pine, is a species of conifer, an evergreen tree in the family Podocarpaceae. It is found in the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Description

Podocarpus coriaceus is a small tree rarely exceeding in height. The bark is thick and smooth when young, growing fissured and flaky with age. The branches are spreading, and often contorted. The leathery leaves grow in opposite pairs and are up to long and wide. They have parallel sides and straight margins, the upper surface being dark green and the underside dull green. The pollen cones and seed cones grow in the axils of the leaves, the seed cones having short stalks and developing into succulent red fruits about, each containing a single seed.

Distribution and habitat

This tree is endemic to the West Indies where it has a unique distribution. It is found in the arc of islands from Trinidad to Puerto Rico but is completely absent from some islands that would appear to have suitable mountains with ideal growing conditions. It occurs on Trinidad, Tobago, St Lucia, Martinique, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Puerto Rico. It mostly occurs above but also grows lower than this on Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago. In Puerto Rico, it occurs in the mountains in the west and in the Sierra de Luquillo in the east, but not the main Cordillera Central range in the centre of the island where the highest mountains are. The reasons for this patchy distribution are unclear. On some islands it grows on poor sandy soil and in Puerto Rico grows in the "elfin forest" on exposed mountain ridges and summits where the vegetation is scrubby and less than in height.

Status

As a common species in the islands on which it grows, facing no particular threats, the conservation status of P. coriaceus is assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being of "least concern.