Podocarpaceae

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Divisio: Tracheophyta
Divisio: Pinophyta
Classis: Pinopsida
Ordo: Pinales

Familia: Podocarpaceae
Genera: Acmopyle – Afrocarpus – Dacrycarpus – Dacrydium – Falcatifolium – Halocarpus – Lagarostrobos – Lepidothamnus – Manoao – Microcachrys – Nageia – Parasitaxus – Pectinopitys – Pherosphaera – Phyllocladus – Podocarpus – Prumnopitys – Retrophyllum – Saxegothaea – Sundacarpus
Paleogenera: †Mumu – †Podostrobus – †Podozamites – †Tiotio

Name

Podocarpaceae Endl. Syn. Conif. 203. (1847) nom. cons.

Type genus: Podocarpus L'Hér. ex Pers. Syn. Pl. 2(2): 580. (1807)

Synonyms

Heterotypic
Acmopylaceae Melikian & A.V. Bobrov
Dacrycarpaceae Melikyan & A.V. Bobrov
Falcatifoliaceae Melikyan & A.V. Bobrov
Halocarpaceae Melikyan & A.V. Bobrov
Lepidothamnaceae Melikyan & A.V. Bobrov
Microcachrydaceae Doweld & Reveal
Microstrobaceae Doweld & Reveal
Nageiaceae D.Z. Fu
Parasitaxaceae Melikyan & A.V. Bobrov
Pherosphaeraceae Nakai
Phyllocladaceae Bessey
Phyllocladaceae Core ex H. Keng
Prumnopityaceae Melikyan & A.V. Bobrov
Saxegothaeaceae Gaussen ex Doweld & Reveal

References
Primary references

Endlicher, S.L. 1847. Synopsis Coniferarum. iv + 369 pp., Sangalli [Sankt Gallen]: Scheitlin & Zollikofer. BHL Reference page.

Additional references

Doweld, A.B. & Reveal, J.L. 2002. (1545) Proposal to conserve the family name Microcachrydaceae (Pinophyta). Taxon 51(3): 573. DOI: 10.2307/1554881 Reference page.
Christenhusz, M.J.M., Reveal, J.L., Farjon, A., Gardner, M.F., Mill, R.R. & Chase, M.W. 2011. A new classification and linear sequence of extant gymnosperms. Phytotaxa 19: 55–70. DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.19.1.3 Open access Reference page.
Kelch, D. G. 1998. Phylogeny of Podocarpaceae: comparison of evidence from morphology and 18S rDNA. American Journal of Botany 85: 986–996. PDF
Page, C.N. 2019. New and maintained genera in the taxonomic alliance of Prumnopitys s.l. (Podocarpaceae), and circumscription of a new genus: Pectinopitys. New Zealand Journal of Botany 57(3): 137-153. DOI: 10.1080/0028825X.2019.1625933 Paywall Reference page.

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2021. Podocarpaceae in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2021 Mar. 12. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2015. Podocarpaceae. Published online. Accessed: Jan. 2 2015.
Tropicos.org 2014. Podocarpaceae. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 2 Feb. 2014.

Vernacular names
Deutsch: Steineibengewächse
English: Podocarps
suomi: Podokarpuskasvit
日本語: マキ科
македонски: Ножноплодни

Podocarpaceae is a large family of mainly Southern Hemisphere conifers, comprising about 156 species of evergreen trees and shrubs.[1] It contains 19 genera if Phyllocladus is included and Manoao and Sundacarpus are recognized.

The family is a classic member of the Antarctic flora, with its main centres of diversity in Australasia, particularly New Caledonia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, and to a slightly lesser extent Malesia and South America (primarily in the Andes Mountains). Several genera extend north of the equator into Indochina and the Philippines. Podocarpus reaches as far north as southern Japan and southern China in Asia, and Mexico in the Americas, and Nageia into southern China and southern India. Two genera also occur in sub-Saharan Africa, the widespread Podocarpus and the endemic Afrocarpus.

Parasitaxus usta is unique as the only known parasitic gymnosperm. It occurs on New Caledonia, where it is parasitic on another member of the Podocarpaceae, Falcatifolium taxoides.[2]

The genus Phyllocladus is sister to the Podocarpaceae sensu stricto.[2] It is treated by some botanists in its own family, the Phyllocladaceae.[3]

Taxonomy

The Podocarpaceae show great diversity, both morphologically and ecologically. Members occur mainly in the Southern Hemisphere, with most genetic variety taking place in New Caledonia, New Zealand, and Tasmania. Species diversity of Podocarpus is found mainly in South America and the Indonesian islands, the latter also being rich in Dacrydium and Dacrycarpus species.

Podocarpus (with 82 to 100 species)[1][4] and Dacrydium (with 21 species) are the largest genera. A few genera are common to New Zealand and South America, supporting the view that podocarps had an extensive distribution over southern Gondwanaland. The breaking up of Gondwanaland led to large-scale speciation of the Podocarpaceae.

Until 1970, only seven Podocarpaceae genera were recognized: Podocarpus, Dacrydium, Phyllocladus, Acmopyle, Microcachrys, Saxegothaea, and Pherosphaera. All four of the African species fell under Podocarpus – P. falcatus, P. elongatus, P. henkelii, and P. latifolius. Taxonomists divided Podocarpus species into eight species groups based on leaf anatomy: Afrocarpus J.Buchholz & N.E.Gray, Dacrycarpus Endl., Eupodocarpus Endl., Microcarpus Pilg., Nageia (Gaertn.) Endl., Polypodiopsis C.E.Bertrand (non Polypodiopsis Carriére nom. rej. prop. 6), Stachycarpus Endl. and Sundacarpus J.Buchholz and N.E.Gray.

Studies of embryology, gametophyte development, female cone structure, and cytology led to the belief that the eight categories probably deserved generic status. Researchers agreed on the need to recognize "fairly natural groupings which prove to have good geographic and probably evolutionary cohesion" and took the necessary steps to raise each section to generic status.[5]

In 1990, a treatment of the Podocarpaceae recognized 17 genera, excluding Phyllocladus from the family, while recognizing Sundacarpus, but not Manoao.[4] In 1995, Manoao was segregated from Lagarostrobus, based on morphological characteristics.[6] In 2002, a molecular phylogenetic study showed Sundacarpus is embedded in Prumnopitys and the monophyly of Lagarostrobos is doubtful if Manoao is included within it.[2] More recent treatments of the family have recognized Manoao, but not Sundacarpus.[7]
Evolution

Molecular evidence supports Podocarpaceae being the sister group to the Araucariaceae, and having diverged from it during the late Permian.[8] The oldest known members of the family are known from the Lopingian (Late Permian), likely Changhsingian-aged sediments of the Umm Irna Formation in Jordan.[9]
Genera

Studies based on anatomical, biogeographical, morphological, and DNA evidence suggest these relationships:[10]
 

Agathis (outgroup)

Podocarpaceae

Saxegothaea conspicua

Halocarpus

Lepidothamnus laxifolius

	Lagarostrobos franklinii

	Manoao colensoi

Phyllocladus

Prumnopitys

	Microcachrys tetragona

	Pherosphaera fitzgeraldii

Acmopyle sahniana

Dacrycarpus

	Falcatifolium

	Dacrydium

Retrophyllum

	Nageia

	Afrocarpus

Podocarpus

 
 
List of genera

Acmopyle
Afrocarpus
Dacrycarpus
Dacrydium
Falcatifolium
Halocarpus
Lagarostrobos
Lepidothamnus
Manoao
Microcachrys
Nageia
Parasitaxus
Pherosphaera (syn. Microstrobos)
Phyllocladus
Podocarpus
Prumnopitys
Retrophyllum
Saxegothaea
Sundacarpus

References

James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. Conifers of the World. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. ISBN 978-0-88192-974-4.
William T. Sinclair, R. R. Mill, M. F. Gardner, P. Woltz, T. Jaffré, J. Preston, M. L. Hollingsworth, A. Ponge, and M. Möller. 2002. "Evolutionary relationships of the New Caledonian heterotrophic conifer, Parasitaxis usta (Podocarpaceae), inferred from chloroplast trnL-F intron/spacer and nuclear rDNA ITS2 sequences". Plant Systematics and Evolution 233 (1–2): 79–104. doi:10.1007/s00606-002-0199-8
Christopher N. Page. 1990. "Phyllocladaceae" pages 317–319. In: Klaus Kubitzki (general editor); Karl U. Kramer and Peter S. Green (volume editors) The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants volume I. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 978-0-387-51794-0
Christopher N. Page. 1990. "Podocarpaceae" pages 332–346. In: Klaus Kubitzki (general editor); Karl U. Kramer and Peter S. Green (volume editors) The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants volume I. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 978-0-387-51794-0
Barker, N. P.; Muller, E. M.; and Mill, R. R. (2004). "A yellowwood by any other name: molecular systematics and the taxonomy of Podocarpus and the Podocarpaceae in southern Africa" Archived 2008-04-08 at the Wayback Machine. South African Journal of Science, 100: 629–632.
Brian P. J. Molloy. 1995. "Manoao (Podocarpaceae), a new monotypic conifer genus endemic to New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Botany 33 (2): 183–201.
Aljos Farjon. 2008. A Natural History of Conifers. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. ISBN 978-0-88192-869-3
Stull, Gregory W.; Qu, Xiao-Jian; Parins-Fukuchi, Caroline; Yang, Ying-Ying; Yang, Jun-Bo; Yang, Zhi-Yun; Hu, Yi; Ma, Hong; Soltis, Pamela S.; Soltis, Douglas E.; Li, De-Zhu (July 19, 2021). "Gene duplications and phylogenomic conflict underlie major pulses of phenotypic evolution in gymnosperms". Nature Plants. 7 (8): 1015–1025. doi:10.1038/s41477-021-00964-4. ISSN 2055-0278.
Blomenkemper, Patrick; Kerp, Hans; Abu Hamad, Abdalla; DiMichele, William A.; Bomfleur, Benjamin (2018-12-20). "A hidden cradle of plant evolution in Permian tropical lowlands". Science. 362 (6421): 1414–1416. doi:10.1126/science.aau4061. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 30573628.

Knopf; Schulze; Little; Stützel; Stevenson (2012). "Relationships within Podocarpaceae based on DNA sequence, anatomical, morphological, and biogeographical data". Cladistics. 28 (3): 271–299. doi:10.1111/j.1096-0031.2011.00381.x.