Saxegothaea

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

Familia: Podocarpaceae
Genus: Saxegothaea
Species: S. conspicua
Name

Saxegothaea Lindl., J. Hort. Soc. London 6: 258 (1851), nom. cons.

monotypic taxon

Synonyms

Heterotypic
Squamataxus J.Nelson, Pinaceae: 168 (1866)

References

Lindley, J. 1851. Journal of the Horticultural Society of London 6: 258.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2016. Saxegothaea in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2016 Jan. 1. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2016. Saxegothaea. Published online. Accessed: Jan. 1 2016.
Tropicos.org 2016. Saxegothaea. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 1 Jan. 2016.

Vernacular names
English: Prince Albert's Yew

Saxegothaea is a genus comprising a single species, Saxegothaea conspicua. It is a conifer in the podocarp family Podocarpaceae, native to southern South America. It grows in Chile and Argentina from 35° to 46° South latitude; in its northernmost natural distribution it grows between 800 and 1000 (2600–3300 ft) m above sea level and in the south it lives at sea level. The species is most often known by its genus name, or sometimes as female maniu (a translation of its name in Spanish) and Prince Albert's yew; in South America it is known as mañío hembra or maniú hembra.

It is a slow-growing, long-lived evergreen tree growing to 15–25 m (50–80 ft) tall, with a trunk up to 1 m in diameter. The bark is thin and flaky to scaly, dark purple-brown. The leaves are arranged in an irregular spiral; they are lanceolate, 1.5–3 cm long, 2 mm broad, fairly hard with a prickly spine tip, dark green above, and with two glaucous blue-white stomatal bands below. The cones are 1 cm long, with 15-20 soft scales; usually only 2-4 scales on each cone are fertile, bearing a single seed 3 mm in diameter.

Saxegothaea is endemic to the Valdivian temperate rain forests of southern Chile and adjacent parts of Argentina, where it is generally found in association with Pilgerodendron uviferum and Fitzroya cupressoides.

The wood has a good quality and is used in furniture and barrels.
References

Gardner, M. (2013). "Saxegothaea conspicua". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T32053A2809854. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T32053A2809854.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.