Dacrydium cupressinum
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Dacrydium cupressinum (Rimu) is a large evergreen coniferous tree native to the forests of New Zealand. It was also known in the past as "red pine", although this name is misleading since it is not a pine, and other trees also have the same name.
Rimu grows throughout New Zealand, on the North Island, South Island and Stewart Island, although most trees are now found on the West Coast of the South Island.
It can be a large but slow-growing tree, growing as high as 50 m tall, though most surviving large trees are 20-35 m tall. The leaves are spirally arranged, awl-shaped, 3-6 mm long on juvenile plants, and 2-3 mm long on mature trees. It is dioecious, with male and female cones on separate trees; the seeds take 15 months to mature after pollination. The mature cones comprise a swollen red fleshy scale 6-10 mm long bearing one (rarely two) apical seeds 4 mm long.
The seeds are dispersed by birds which eat the fleshy scale and pass the seed on in their droppings; they are an important food resource for some species, particularly the Kakapo, whose breeding cycle has been linked to rimu's cone production cycle.
Uses
Historically, Rimu and other native trees such as Kauri and Totara were the main sources of wood for New Zealand, including furniture and house construction. However, many of New Zealand's original stands of Rimu have been destroyed, and recent government policies forbid the felling of Rimu in public forests, though allowing limited logging on private land. Pinus radiata has now replaced Rimu in most industries, although Rimu remains popular for the production of high quality wooden furniture.