National Botanic Garden of Wales, United Kingdom

Common name: Drummond's cypress pine

Family: Cupressaceae (Cypress)

Distribution: Australia (Western)

Habitat: Shrubland

IUCN Red list: Near threatened

Life form: Evergreen tree • Coeden bythwyrdd

Geirdarddiad / Etymology: Callitris (kal-LIT-tris): From the Greek kalli- (beautiful) and -treis (three), referring to the leaves and conescales occurring in threes.

Geirdarddiad / Etymology: drummondii (drum-AWN-dee-eye): Named after James Drummond (c. 1786-1863), Australian botanist who collected the type specimens.

Description: Evergreen shrubs or small trees to 6 m tall and 20 cm dbh, single- or multi-stemmed, with a low-branching conical or rounded crown of spreading to ascending branches. Bark gray, smooth, soon turning scaly, hard and fissured on lower stems. Twigs numerous, ascending, triangular, 1.5-2 mm thick, covered in closely appressed leaves. Leaves yellowish green or green, in alternate whorls of 3, decurrent, closely appressed, linear, 2-6 × 1-1.8 mm on youngest twigs, abaxially smooth or weakly verrucose and keeled, margins denticulate, apex obtuse to acute, stomata in two marginal lines. Pollen cones terminal, solitary or paired, ovoid-oblong, 3-6 × 1.5-2 mm, yellowish green turning light brown. Seed cones terminal on short, 5-6 mm thick leafy shoots, solitary but often grouped along sections of stems, maturing in 1-1.5 years, persistent, globose when closed, 12-15 × 12-17 mm, purplish or metallic gray. Bract scale complexes in 2 whorls of 3, very thick, bract tip minute (only visible in smooth, closed cones), columella very thick, 3-5 mm long. Seeds 2 per scale, 2-3 m long, up to 7 mm including wings, which are on 2 opposite sides, 1-2 and 2-4 mm wide, unequal in shape and size (Farjon 2010).