About

Dacrydium cupressinum, commonly known as rimu, is a species of conifer in the family Podocarpaceae, native to New Zealand. The tree usually reaches 35 metres (100 feet) in height, but may reach up to 60 metres (200 feet) and can have a stout trunk up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in diameter. It is dioecious, meaning individual trees are either male or female. Rimu is the country's most common native conifer, its range covers the North, South, and Stewart Islands. Rimu has an estimated lifespan of 600–800 years, although it may live as long as 1,200 years.

The name D. cupressinum was first published invalidly in 1786 by Daniel Solander and Georg Forster. However the species was first given a valid description in 1806 by Aylmer Lambert. The second part of the scientific name, cupressinum, was given because of the tree's similarity with cypress species.

Where it grows

Dacrydium cupressinum's seeds are dispersed by gravity and by fruit-eating animals (frugivores). These seeds are well-adapted to be dispersed by birds; primary dispersers of the seeds include bellbirds, kererū, and the tūī. Brown creepers, fantails, grey warblers, riflemen, silvereyes, and tomtits have been observed in association with the tree. Other birds, such as white-eyes and house sparrows, feed on the tree's receptacles (fleshy fruit-like structures). The tree is known to be browsed by deer and possums, which browse the seedlings and consume the foliage and branchlets, respectively. Excrements of the wētā are frequently found in seed traps, which could indicate that wētā consume the seeds of the tree. The seeds have been recorded being destroyed by chaffinches, mice, rats, and wētā.