this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2023
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Southern conifers: meet this vast group of ancient trees with mysteries still unsolved (theconversation.com)
submitted 2 years ago by Treevan@aussie.zone to c/treehuggers@slrpnk.net
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cross-posted from: https://aussie.zone/post/709116

  • Southern conifers, found in Australia, South America, New Zealand, and New Caledonia, may not actually be true conifers and could be more closely related to flowering plants.
  • Conifers are gymnosperms with naked seeds and cones.
  • Southern conifers evolved from southern seed ferns and have broad leaves compared to the needle-like leaves of northern conifers.
  • Some southern conifers, such as Araucaria and Agathis species, have cones.
  • The Wollemi pine, a species of southern conifer, is considered a "living fossil" and appeared around 200 million years ago.
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[–] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 2 points 2 years ago

One of my favorite groups of trees. As they mention, these were briefly a hot trend among the wealthy in the late 1800's. Because of their long lives, we still have many examples scattered about the world in old parks, gardens, and estates in the Northern Hemisphere and elsewhere.

Interesting that they may be closer to Angiosperms than Gymnosperms. I have wondered about this actually, given their very different leaf structure from the northern conifers.