Phyllocladaceae

Abstract

Symmetric, much branched, slightly resinous, dioecious or monoecious evergreen shrubs or trees, often attaining considerable age. Leaves simple, linear, crowded and the sole photosynthetic organs on seedling plants, but becoming rapidly distant, reduced, bract-like, deciduous and ephemeral on all growth subsequent to the seedling stages and functionally replaced by numerous, discrete, axillary, broad, rhomboidal, flattened, green, much-modified branch systems (phylloclades) with apparently flabelliform venation, each arising in the axil of a scale leaf and ultimately bearing further true leaves as reduced spur-like scales, with male or female organs when present arising in the axils of the scales on the phylloclade margins, or on much-reduced, specialized phylloclade shoots. Male (pollen) cones catkin-like, stalked, usually clustered in groups each arising in the axil of a leafy bract, cylindric. Female (ovuliferous) organs usually aggregated into tightly clustered, ovoid cone-like structures, each of few to many, ± spirally arranged cone scales, some of which possess a single axillary ovule, the ovules erect, small, seated on a receptacle formed by fusion of reduced bract scales, surrounded at the base by an aril; seed protruding, nut-like, slightly compressed, the aril cupular, fragile and white, eventually surrounding the base of the seed, ovules erect.