Cupressaceae Actinostrobus acuminatus Parl.
Etymology
Actinostrobus refers to ‘star’ (actino) and ‘cone’ (strobus); indicating its six-scaled cone.
acuminatus refers to the shape of its cone; being pointy.
Colloquial Name
Moore cypress
Description
These shrubs grow between 1 and 4.5 meters tall, with an upright or spreading growth habit. They often have multiple stems, forming a dense, irregularly shaped or broadly conical crown. Some plants grow low to the ground, with branches partially buried in windblown sand. The trunk is short, and the bark is thin, brownish-grey, smooth at first but quickly peeling away in flakes. The numerous branches spread outward or lie close to the ground, remaining on the plant for a long time. The smaller branchlets are rigid, twisted, and relatively short, with an angular shape due to the way the leaf bases extend down along their surface. Over time, they turn grey-brown to grey as the leaves weather away.
The leaves grow in alternating whorls of three and are fused at the base, forming a continuous ridge along the branches. Juvenile leaves, which appear on both young and mature plants, are needle-like, measuring 10 to 20 millimeters long and 0.8 to 1.5 millimeters wide. They spread outward, have a ridge on the underside, and taper to a sharp, pointed tip. Their color ranges from light green to yellowish-green. Adult leaves are more narrow and lance-shaped, measuring 2 to 4 millimeters long and about 1 millimeter wide. Their tips curve inward or downward, and they have small teeth along the edges. The underside is keeled, and stomata form two narrow lines on each surface.
Pollen cones grow at the tips of small branches. They are yellowish-green when young, turning light brown as they mature. Each cone is 7 to 10 millimeters long and 2 to 3 millimeters wide, containing 10 to 16 small, ovate structures arranged in whorls of three. These structures have a slightly pointed tip, a shallow ridge on the underside, and hold three to four pollen sacs on their lower surface.
Seed cones grow at the tips of short, slightly thickened lateral branches with small leaves. They usually appear alone but can also be clustered in groups of two or three. When closed, the cones are broad and slightly flask-shaped, with a noticeable constriction below the scale tips. They measure 15 to 25 millimeters long and 10 to 20 millimeters wide. Young cones are bluish-green with a waxy coating and mature to brown.
Each cone is made up of six bract-scale complexes arranged in whorls, which grow to nearly the same size by maturity. Beneath them, there are four to six sets of alternating whorls, each containing three broad, overlapping scales with small teeth along their edges. The upper part of these scales remains free, tapering to a pointed tip. The bracts are completely hidden within the cone scales. The cone scales themselves are oblong, 15 to 20 millimeters long and 5 to 10 millimeters wide, slightly concave with fine wrinkles. Their outer surface is dark brown, with a sharply pointed, curved tip, while the inner surface is smoother and dark purplish-black, with lighter-colored seed scars near the base. A strong, sharp central spike is present at the core of the cone.
Each cone contains 8 to 12 seeds, though only a few of them are fully developed. Some are smaller and located between the bases of the cone scales. The seeds are irregularly shaped, roughly triangular, and measure about 5 to 6 millimeters long, or up to 9 to 12 millimeters when including the narrow, light brown wings, which are 2 to 3 millimeters wide.
Distribution
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Habitat
The natural habitats for Actinostrobus acuminatus are mediterranean-type shrublands. It is naturally found at an elevation of at least 1 up to 100 metres. There are no conifers associated with Actinostrobus acuminatus that are known of.
USDA Hardiness zone – 10
Actinostrobus acuminatus is hardy to USDA Zone 10 (Bannister & Neuner, 2001), meaning its frost tolerance lies somewhere in the range of -1.1C (30F) to 4.4C (40F).
Species Continuity
The population trend for Actinostrobus acuminatus is stable. There are ongoing threats for Actinostrobus acuminatus and they are listed as follows:
IUCN Category – NT
According to the IUCN Red List, Actinostrobus acuminatus has been assigned the status of NT(Near Threatened). This means that according to the Red List criteria, this species is not threatened, but is close to having this status.
Superordinate Taxa
The nearest superordinate taxon for Actinostrobus acuminatus is Actinostrobus. The coordinate taxa for Actinostrobus acuminatus are therefore:
Actinostrobus acuminatus is further placed under Cupressoideae. Actinostrobus acuminatus is also placed under Cupressaceae.
This map shows botanical records (points) for this taxon. By opening the map’s sidebar (collapsed by default) you can toggle visibility or change the basemap. By clicking on records, you reveal more information.
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