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The order Mycocaliciales (Ascomycota) comprises fungal species with diverse, often highly specialized substrate ecologies. Particularly within the genus Chaenothecopsis, many species exclusively occur on fresh and solidified resins or other exudates of vascular plants. In New Zealand, the only previously known species growing on plant exudate is Chaenothecopsis schefflerae, found on several endemic angiosperms in the family Araliaceae. Here we describe three new species; Chaenothecopsis matai Rikkinen, Beimforde, Tuovila & A.R. Schmidt, C. nodosa Beimforde, Tuovila, Rikkinen & A.R. Schmidt, and C. novae-zelandiae Rikkinen, Beimforde, Tuovila & A.R. Schmidt, all growing on exudates of endemic New Zealand conifers of the Podocarpaceae family, particularly on Prumnopitys taxifolia. Phylogenetic analyses based on ribosomal DNA regions (ITS and LSU) grouped them into a distinct, monophyletic clade. This, as well as the restricted host range, suggests that all three taxa are endemic to New Zealand. Copious insect frass between the ascomata contain ascospores or show an early stage of ascomata development, indicating that the fungi are spread by insects. The three new species represent the first evidence of Chaenothecopsis from any Podocarpaceae species and the first from any gymnosperm exudates in New Zealand.

Scientific interest has grown over recent years in response to greatly increased perception of the phylogenetic diversity within the conifers as a whole. Much of this has been stimulated by...

Leaf cuticle micromorphology has been cited as an important set of taxonomic characters in gymnosperms, but previous studies have largely been based on small sample sizes. The premise of this study was to understand whether external factors affect cuticular micromorphology of Podocarpaceae. Two example species, Prumnopitys andina and Podocarpus salignus, were studied. Of 21 sampled characters, nine (c.43% of the total) were visually assessed as being moderately reliable or highly reliable for taxonomic discrimination for both species, with an additional six (c.29%) being moderately reliable or highly reliable for only one or other of the example species, and six characters (c.29%) unreliable for both. Seven of the most variable stomatal characters were selected for further analysis to establish whether environmental factors affect them. The relationship between these seven stomatal characters, the environment and climate was analysed using the R ‘vegan’ package and climate data gathered from WorldClim. Our results showed that both species had larger stomata in moist and shady conditions, and a higher density of (smaller) stomata in sunny and drier conditions. An additional novel finding was the presence of stomata on the adaxial leaf surface in 46% of samples of Prumnopitys andina: the first record of adaxial stomata in this species, highlighting the necessity of studying multiple samples of a given species. In conclusion, these results indicate that larger sample sizes than have hitherto been employed in cuticle micromorphological studies are necessary to fully document the amount of phenotypic variation that exists.

Podocarpaceae is the largest family in cupressophytes (conifers II), but their plastid genomes (plastomes) are poorly studied, with plastome data currently existing for only four of the 19 Podocarpaceous genera. In this study, we assembled the plastomes from representatives of eight additional genera, including Afrocarpus, Dacrydium, Lagarostrobos, Lepidothamnus, Microstrobos, Phyllocladus, Prumnopitys, and Saxegothaea. We found that Lagarostrobos, a monotypic genus native to Tasmania, has the largest plastome among any cupressophytes studied to date (151,496 bp). Plastome enlargement in Lagarostrobos coincides with increased intergenic spacers, repeats, and duplicated genes. Among Podocarpaceae, Lagarostrobos has the most rearranged plastome, but its substitution rates are modest. Plastid phylogenomic analyses clarify the positions of previously conflicting Podocarpaceous genera. Tree topologies firmly support the division of Podocarpaceae into two sister clades: (1) the Prumnopityoid clade and (2) the clade containing Podocarpoid, Dacrydioid, Microstrobos, and Saxegothaea. The Phyllocladus is nested within the Podocarpaceae, thus familial status of the monotypic Phyllocladaceae is not supported.

The main objective of the present paper is to describe a new genus and species of Podocarpaceae fossil wood from the Upper Cenozoic Ituzaingó Formation, Paraná Basin, Argentina, based on a detailed description of the secondary xylem. This specimen, Prumnopityoxylon gnaedingerae Franco & Brea gen. nov. & sp. nov., is the first fossil wood referable as coniferous from northeastern Argentina. This fossil resembles extant Prumnopitys Phil. (Podocarpaceae), sharing the following anatomical features: slightly distinct growth rings; the absence of axial parenchyma; uniseriate and homocellular rays; uniseriate or biseriate, opposite or sub-opposite, separate or contiguous tracheid pitting; and cupressoid or taxodioid cross-field pitting. The presence of this Podocarpaceae fossil from the Ituzaingó Formation indicates that the distribution of this family was more widespread and probably continuous in South America in the past. It also provides new evidence for the hypothesis of its wide distribution in northeastern Argentina during the Cenozoic. Fil: Franco, María Jimena. Provincia de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Universidad Autónoma de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción; Argentina Fil: Brea, Mariana. Provincia de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Universidad Autónoma de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción; Argentina

The first Podocarpaceae wood record is described from the Mulichinco Formation (Valanginian, Lower Cretaceous), Neuquén Basin, Argentina. The specimen was directly associated with a middle caudal vertebra of a diplodocid sauropod dinosaur. A new species – Podocarpoxylon prumnopityoides – is proposed based on features that include the presence of abietinean wood type (tracheid radial pitting), plus podocarpoid (cupressoid type) and some dacrydioid (taxodioid type) cross-field pits, diffuse axial parenchyma and low rays. This combination of anatomical characters is comparable to both Prumnopitys and Podocarpus, whereas the type of pits in the cross-fields resembles some members of the extant Prumnopitys. This is the first unequivocal record of the Family Podocarpaceae in the Valanginian of South America and confirms the hypothesis that the divergence between the “Podocarpoid-Dacrydioid” and “Prumnopityoid” clades occurred earlier than the Early Cretaceous. Fil: Gnaedinger, Silvia Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral; Argentina Fil: Coria, Rodolfo Anibal. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología; Argentina. Provincia del Neuquén. Municipalidad de Plaza Huincul. Museo ; Argentina Fil: Koppelhus, Eva. University of Alberta; Canadá Fil: Casadio, Silvio Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología; Argentina Fil: Tunik, Maisa Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología; Argentina Fil: Currie, Philip. University of Alberta; Canadá

Microscopic descriptions of the wood of the six species of Colombian Podocarpaceae were made. The studied species belong to the genera Podocarpus, Prumnopitys and Retrophyllum. Trees were selected from natural forests of the Andean region of central-west Colombia. From each tree, the basal portion of the trunk was collected and the anatomical characteristics of the wood were studied in microtome sections and macerated preparations. In general, there was remarkable uniformity in the characteristics of the six species, although some differences in quantitative traits were found. All of the species were characterized by the absence of axial and radial resin canals, predominantly uniseriate pits on the radial walls of the axial tracheids and the presence of pits on the tangential walls of the axial tracheids. The rays were composed solely of parenchyma cells, with end and horizontal walls smooth, uniseriate and occasionally biseriate, and with height from very low (up to four cells) to medium (5–15 cells). The cross-field pits were cupressoid in all species. Diffuse axial parenchyma with smooth transverse walls were present in five species, but absent in Prumnopitys harmsiana. The principal quantitative differences were found in axial tracheid length, pit size, number of pits per cross-field, ray height and axial parenchyma abundance. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 164, 293–302.

Seven names of macrofossil taxa belonging to Podocarpaceae are here validated; they were all previously published but not validly so under the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. The names apply to species in the genera Acmopyle Pilg. [A. setiger (Townrow) R. S. Hill & R. J. Carp. ex R. R. Mill & R. S. Hill], Dacrycarpus (Endl.) de Laub. [D. praecupressinus (Ettingsh.) D. R. Greenw. ex R. R. Mill & R. S. Hill], Falcatifolium de Laub. [F eocenicum (D. R. Greenw.) R. S. Hill & L. J. Scriven ex R. R. Mill & R. S. Hill], Prumnopitys Phil. [P tasmanica (Townrow) D. R. Greenw. ex R. R. Mill & R. S. Hill], Sigmaphyllum R. S. Hill & L. J. Scriven [S. australe (D. R. Greenw.) R. S. Hill & L. J. Scriven ex R. R. Mill & R. S. Hill], Smithtonia R. S. Hill & M. Pole [S. lanceolata (D. R. Greenw.) R. S. Hill & M. Pole ex R. R. Mill & R. S. Hill] and Willnngia R. S. Hill & M. Pole [W. maslinensis (D. T. Blackburn) R. S. Hill & M. Pole ex R. R. Mill & R. S Hill]. All these combinations were originally published without exact basionym references; instead, the authors cited the complete pagination of the paper in which the intended basionym was made.

Fertile complexes (individual reproductive units of ovulate cones) of three Prumnopitys species and Afrocarpus falcatus (Podocarpaceae) were subjected to histological examination and non-destructive NMR imaging. The latter technique allowed the display, frame-by-frame analysis and electronic ‘dissection’ of internal structures such as the number and courses of vascular traces and resin canals and their morphology. Characters of these internal structures distinguished all three Prumnopitys species from each other and thus were shown to be taxonomically diagnostic. Fertile complexes of Prumnopitys andina and P. taxifolia were most similar, possessing simple vascular traces and few unbranched resin canals. Those of P. ferruginea were very different and possessed an interconnected network of resin ducts within the sarcotesta. These findings are congruent with relationships inferred from molecular phylogenetic studies, in which two subclades were recovered within Prumnopitys. The anatomy of the female fertile complexes of Afrocarpus falcatus was very distinct from all Prumnopitys species analysed. Its most distinctive feature was the existence of a complex network of radial vascular strands originating from within the outer layers of the sarcotesta and penetrating the inner layers of the fertile complex. The surface texture and morphology of the sclerotesta of the seed was also unique to each species. © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2004, 145, 295–316.

A detailed vegetation history extending back to the Last Interglacial (Marine Isotope Substage 5e) is presented for Lake Poukawa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. This history is based on palynological analyses of a 198-m core record, age secured by uranium/thorium (U/Th) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates as well as tephrochronology. Vegetation of the penultimate glacial (Isotope Stage 6) probably consisted of a very sparse shrubby herbland of stunted podocarps (Phlyllocladus sp.), daisies, grasses and sedges. Similar floras existed in each of the succeeding cool periods. Four interglacial/interstadial floras are preserved. The peak of the Last Interglacial (Substage 5e) was dominated by extensive lowland forest of tall forest podocarps (Podocarpus/Prumnopitys), most probably matai (Prumnopitys taxifolia) with red beech (Nothofagus fusca), secondary forest trees (Coprosma spp., Myrsine spp.) and tree ferns (Cyathea spp.). In the Poukawa basin itself, a swamp forest of the podocarp (Dacrycarpus dacrydioides) with the true palm (Rhopalostylis sapida) expanded. Substage 5e was significantly warmer and/or moister than the present day. Substage 5c/5a was marked by montane forest of red and silver beeches (N. fusca and N. menziesii), Phyllocladus spp. and secondary trees. A reduced representation of Podocarpus/Prumnopitys possibly consists of montane podocarp (Podocarpus hallii). We infer the temperature of Substage 5c/5a to have been 3.5-5 degreesC lower than the present day. Although Stage 3 flora are superficially similar to those of Substage 5c/5a, the beeches are relatively less dominant. The regional flora during Stage 1 is very similar to those of Substage 5e, but the density is lower with no swamp forest during the present interglaciation. This may represent a change in evapotranspiration balance around Poukawa, but may also be controlled by hydrological conditions within the basin. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

It is demonstrated that Prumnopitys andina (Poepp. ex Endl.) de Laub. (Podocarpaceae) is the correct name for the Chilean conifer, known locally as "lleuque", which was recently renamed Prumnopitys spicata (Poepp.) Molloy & Mufioz-Schick. Podocarpus spicatus R. Br. ex Mirb., a name that applies to the New Zealand species, Prumnopitys taxifolia (Sol. ex D. Don) de Laub. (based on Dacrydium taxifolium Sol. ex D. Don), commonly called "matai" or black pine, is validly published, and makes Pod. spicatus Poepp., upon which Molloy & Mufioz-Schick based their new combination, illegitimate. Moreover, if Podocarpus L'Her. ex Pers. is circumscribed broadly to include Prumnopitys Phil., the epithets of two of the three species discussed in this paper must be changed from those used legitimately under Prumnopitys. Pod. spicatus R. Br. ex Mirb. is the only available name for that species (matai) in Podocarpus, because Pod. taxifolius Kunth, applicable to a tropical South American species, Prumnopitys montana (Humb., Bonpl. & Kunth. ex Willd.) de Laub. (known locally as "chaquiro"), antedates Dacrydium taxifolium D. Don, preventing the use of Don's epithet in Podocarpus. Chaquiro, currently called Pr. montana, would become Pod. taxifolius Kunth. Full synonymies of the names for the Chilean and New Zealand species and a limited synonymy for that of the tropical South American taxon are given.

The oldest legitimate name for the Chilean conifer Lleuque, Podocarpus spicatus, is reinstated. The subsequent assignment of this taxon to the genus Prumnopitys is accepted, and the new combination Prumnopitys spicata is made. Where possible, previous names applied to this taxon are typified.

Thirteen conifer macrofossils and a gymnospermous leaf of uncertain affinity are documented from the early‐mid Paleocene of the Mount Somers coal mine, Canterbury, New Zealand Podocarpaceae are prominent and diverse Two taxa are formally described as new genera of Podocarpaceae, Mumu somerensis gen et sp nov and Tiotio imbricatus gen et sp nov A second species of Kakahuta K drinnanu, is described There are also two species of Prumnopitys, P limaniae sp nov and P sp ‘Mt Somers’ A further five taxa of Podocarpaceae are informally described Shoots with decussately‐arranged scale leaves are identified as Libocedrus cf L bidwillii (Cupressaceae) Paahake papillatus gen et sp nov is compared with Sciadopitvs (Taxodiaceae) and Torreya (Taxaceae) A single small piece of cuticle belongs in the Araucanaceae and is tentatively identified as Araucana An additional new genus and species, Hoiki mcqueenu gen et sp nov , has an unusual epidemial morphology with transversely oriented stomates but is of unknown affinity The...

Eight genera of conifers in two or three families are documented from Miocene sediments of the Manuherikia Group, Central Otago, New Zealand They include Acmopyle masonu sp nov , Dacrycarpus dacrydioides Lepidothamnus intermedius, Podocarpus sp ‘Mata Creek’, Prumnopitys taxifoha, and Retrophyllum vulcanense in the Podocarpaceae, an indeterminate genus in either the Podocarpaceae or Taxaceae, and a single representative of the Cupressaceae Seven species occur in one deposit

Cuticle micromorphology of leaves from all 10 species and one variety of the conifer genus Prumnopitys Philippi (Podocarpaceae) was studied with scanning electron microscopy. Both herbarium and preserved specimens were examined and showed no differences in micromorphology. External and internal features of abaxial and adaxial cuticles are characterized for all 10 species and compared to other known podocarps. External cuticles exhibit undulating surfaces that may reflect underlying epidermal cell outlines, Florin rings, and stomatal plugs. Stomata have two to seven subsidiary cells, often with polar subsidiary cells lacking. There is a crease in subsidiary cell cuticle near the guard cells that corresponds to the Florin ring externally. Cuticle on subsidiary cells usually shows an irregular outer wall flange, granular to pitted surface, and horizontal and/or vertical striations. Polar extensions occur in all species but are less pronounced in section Sundacarpus. A rolled flange of cuticle occurs between ...

On the lower eastern flanks of Egmont Volcano, western North Island, New Zealand, several Egmont-sourced tephras have been correlated to a radiocarbon dated peat site that provides a late last-glacial to early post-glacial record of vegetation and climate change in central Taranaki. The pollen spectra at this site indicates a mosaic of grassland-shrubland and Prumnopitys taxifolia-dominant forest at ca. 13,100 BP and suggests a climate cooler and drier than at present. The ominance of tall podocarp forest by ca. 12,900 BP suggests that climatic amelioration was rapid towards the end of the last glacial period. Initially this forest was dominated by Prumnopitys taxifolia but at ca. 11,000 BP was succeeded by Dacrydium cupressinum indicating a steady shift to warmer and moister climate. Tephra interbedded with peat allows precise chrono-correlation into the Andisol-forming environment. The rapidity of climatic amelioration identified from variations in Andisol morphology and mineralogy concurs with that indicated from pollen changes in the peat.

The shoot apices of seedlings of Podocarpus and Prumnopitys form resting buds enclosed in cataphylls, whereas those of Dacrydium and Dacrycarpus are naked. Seedlings of Dacrycarpus differ from those of the other three genera in having a whorl of four lateral branches above the cotyledons. These arise in the axils of a whorl of leaves immediately above the first two leaves which form an opposite pair. In all genera the leaves (except those above the cotyledons) arise in spiral phyllotaxis, and in Dacrydium and Podocarpus they remain disposed spirally at all times, except in young plants of P. hallii in which the leaves may be secondarily arranged in two ranks. Young plants of Dacrycarpus have branches with their leaves disposed in two ranks though initiated spirally. Adult trees of the two species of Prumnopitys have plagiotropic branches with leaves disposed secondarily in two ranks and this occurs from the earliest seedling stages of P. ferruginea. The seedlings of P. taxifolia, however, pass th...

The pollination mechanism of most genera of the Podocarpaceae involves inverted ovules, a pollination drop and bisaccate pollen grains. Saccate grains have sometimes been referred to as 'non-wettable' due to their buoyant properties, while non-saccate pollen grains have been described as 'wettable'. The hydrodynamic properties of saccate pollen grains of seven podocarp species in five genera, Dacrydium Sol. ex G. Forst., Dacrycarpus (Endl.) de Laub., Manoao Molloy, Podocarpus L'Her. ex Pers. and Prumnopitys Phil. have been tested in water, together with saccate and non-saccate pollen of four other conifer genera, Cedrus Trew (Pinaceae), Cephalotaxus Siebold & Zucc. ex Endl. (Cephalotaxaceae), Cupressus L. (Cupressaceae) and Phyllocladus Rich. ex Mirb. (Phyllocladaceae), and spores of three fern species and one lycopod species. All four spore types studied were non-wettable, whereas the bisaccate and trisaccate pollen types, like all other conifer pollen types, were wettable, enabling the grains to cross the surface tension barrier of water. Once past this barrier, grain behaviour was governed by presence or absence of sacci. Non-saccate and vestigially saccate grains sank, whereas saccate grains behaved like air bubbles, floating up to the highest point. In addition, the grains were observed to float in water with sacci uppermost, consistent with the suggestion that distally placed sacci serve to orientate the germinal furrow of the pollen grain towards the nucellus of an inverted ovule. Observations of pollen grains in the pollen chambers of naturally pollinated Prumnopitvs ovules confirmed this. The combination of buoyancy and wettability in saccate pollen has implications for the efficiency of the typical podocarp pollination mechanism.

The Podocarpaceae are the most morphologically diverse of conifer families. A taxonomic trend has resulted in recognising this diversity via smaller generic groupings, including several monotypes. A phylogenetic assessment of the monotypic genera Sundacarpus and Manoao was conducted employing maximum parsimony the analysis of sequence data from 18S-ribosomal DNA from 34 gymnosperm taxa, including 29 Podocarpaceae. In resulting trees, there is high bootstrap support for Podocarpaceae, including Phyllocladus, but the order of deep branches within the family is equivocal. Prumnopitys (Sundacarpus) amara (Blume) de Laub. and four other Prumnopitys spp. comprise a clade with a bootstrap value of 100%, supporting the retention of Sundacarpus as a section of Prumnopitys. Lagarostrobos franklinii (Hook.f.) Quinn and L. (Manoao) colensoi (Hook.) Quinn comprise a clade with equivocal bootstrap support, echoing previous results from parsimony analysis of morphological data. A conservative approach (i.e. one avoiding unnecessary monotypes) favours the retention of L. colensoi in Lagarostrobos, pending further evidence of relationships within the group.

Analysis of sequences of the chloroplast gene rbcL for 76 taxa of Podocarpaceae (representing all genera except Parasitaxus) and five species of Phyllocladaceae were undertaken with respect to their relationships to each other and to 28 coniferalean outgroup taxa from seven families. The results indicate that Podocarpaceae are polyphyletic unless expanded to include Phyllocladaceae. Within Podocarpaceae, Sundacarpus is placed in a clade with Prumnopitys, and Falcatifolium is paraphyletic as a basal grade to Dacrydium. Phyllocladus is in an unresloved clade with Halocarpus, Manoao/Lagarostrobos and Prumnopitys/Sundacarpus. The separation of Afrocarpus from Podocarpus and its placement instead as sister to Nageia and Retrophyllum is supported. Podocarpus s. str. is monophyletic, with both subgenera identified, albeit poorly supported. The analysis placed Lepidothamnus and Saxegothaea in an unresolved basal polytomy within the family. There were no clear outgroup relationships with the family. These results differ from the morphological clades found by Kelch (1997), and disagree strongly with his 18S-sequence-based phylogeny (Kelch 1998). However, jackknife support values indicate that although the genera are well supported, relationships both within and between them are not, suggesting that intergeneric relationships in the family require further study. There is also some congruence between our results and those of the gymnosperm 18S study by Chaw et al. (1997), although their study included only three Podocarpaceae and one Phyllocladaceae species.

A cuticular micromorphological study confirms the separate generic status of Afrocarpus, Nageia and Retrophyllum and increases the number of available diagnostic characters. A re-investigation of fossil species previously assigned to this complex demonstrates that in all cases the generic designation was incorrect. Decussocarpus maslinensis from Eocene sediments at Mash Bay is transferred to the new genus Willungia; specimens from Eocene sediments at Anglesea referred to Decussocarpus brownei are transferred to Smithtonia victoriensis; Prumnopitys lanceolata and specimens assigned to P. aff. tasmanica from Anglesea are combined and transferred to Smithtonia. Previously undescribed fossil specimens from Oligocene sediments in Tasmania are assigned to Smithtonia jonesii and Willungia oppositifolia. Specimens of Retrophyllum are reported from Oligocene sediments in Western Australia and Miocene sediments in the South Island of New Zealand. These new fossil genera and species demonstrate that foliage characters which are now unique to Retrophyllum among the Podocarpaceae were once more widespread, providing further evidence for the hypothesis that many podocarpaceous taxa converged towards the production of flattened short shoots to increase photosynthetic efficiency.

The Mid–Late Eocene macrofloral assemblage from Hasties, north-eastern Tasmania is characterised by a large diversity of conifers. Fourteen species are identified including two species of Araucaria (A. hastiensis Hill & Bigwood and A. annulata Bigwood & Hill) and 12 species of Podocarpaceae: Acmopyle compactus sp. nov.; Lepidothamnus diemenensis sp. nov.; two species of Dacrycarpus (D. geminus sp, nov. and D. mucronatus Wells & Hill); Phyllocladus aspleniifolius Hook; Podocarpus sinuatus sp. nov.; two species of Prumnopitys (P. portensis sp. nov. and P. cf. P. montana), Smithtonia jonesii Hill & Pole; and three species of uncertain genus. Seven taxa of angiosperm macrofossils (dispersed cuticles and leaves) are identified: two species of Luurophyllum (Lauraceae); Luurophyllum cuspidatus sp. nov. and L. cf. L. arcuatum Hill; Nothofagus tasmanica (Fagaceae); Gymnostoma sp. (Casuarinaceae); Cenarrhenes nitida (Proteaceae), cf. Xanthomyrtus sp. (Myrtaceae); and a taxon of possible Cunoniaceae affinity. The vegetation, which was dominated by Lepidothamnus diemenensis, grew in a floodbasin swamp. The climate was cool, seasonal, with high rainfall and cloud cover. This paper is an important 'whole flora' taxonomic treatment of a macrofossil assemblage. It notes the first occurrence in Australia of the conifer Lepidothamus (currently restricted to New Zealand and South America).

Cuticle micromorphology of herbarium and preserved leaves of four genera of New Caledonian podocarps were studied with scanning electron microscopy: Acmopyle pancheri, Decussocarpus comptonii, D. minor, Falcatifolium taxoides, and Prumnopitys ferruginoides. External and internal features of abaxial and adaxial cuticles are characterized for all taxa. External cuticle surfaces of the Decussocarpus species and Prumnopitys exhibit Florin rings, whereas other taxa do not. Sunken stomata in discontinuous rows characterize all genera. Subsidiary cell number varies from two to seven, and the cuticle from epidermal cell surfaces varies from smooth to pitted and rugose. Cuticle micromorphology of subsidiary cell surfaces distinguishes the taxa. Micromorphological features are compared with general morphological characters used in several taxonomic treatments of the family to distinguish the genera in the Podocarpaceae. Species in the genera Prumnopitys and Decussocarpus treated by some authors as species of Podoca...

19-Hydroxyferruginol and 19-acetoxyferruginol, two new naturally occurring phenolic diterpenoids, have been isolated from the heartwood of Podocarpus ferrugineus . Totarol and its derivatives have been obtained from Podocarpus affinis, P. falcatus, P. koordersii, Dacrycarpus vieillardii and Decussocarpus comptonii and podocarpic acid from Falcatifolium taxoides .

The distribution of flavonoid glycosides in New Zealand species of Podocarpus sensu lato strongly supports de Laubenfels' recognition of three genera. Thus, Podocarpus sensu stricto is characterised by the predominance of flavone C-glycosides and the absence of flavonol 3-O-diglycos ides; Dacrycarpus by the accumulation of 3-methoxyflavone glycosides and the presence of B-ring trihydroxylation; and Prumnopitys by the accumulation of flavonol 3-O-diglycosides and the lack of flavone C-glycosides. Non-New Zealand species of Podocarpus, Dacrycarpus, and Prumnopitys conform to these criteria. The flavonoid patterns as revealed by 2D-paper chromatography show little intraspecific variation. and are species specific.

The nomenclature of some Tertiary fossil Podocarpaceae is reviewed. Fossil Podocarpaceae from the Eocene Anglesea locality in Victoria are described and assigned to six species from five modern genera using cuticular and other vegetative morphology. Falcatifolium australis D. R. Greenwood is the first record for this genus in Australia. Dacrycarpus eocenica D. R. Greenwood, Podocarpus platyphyllum D. R. Greenwood and Prumnopitys lanceolata D. R. Greenwood are new species. Decussocarpus brownei (Selling) D. R. Greenwood and Prumnopitys aff. Pr. Tasmanica (Townrow) D. R. Greenwood have previously been recorded as megafossils from the Australian Tertiary. The diversity of Podocarpaceae recorded from Anglesea is far greater than in any modern Australian forests.