Flora of New Zealand Series

Evergreen, ± resinous, trees and shrubs, monoecious or dioecious. Winter buds naked. Lvs usually opposite or whorled, rarely alternate, usually scale-like, decurrent and hiding the stem, needle-like when young, sometimes this juvenile form persisting. Cones of opposite or whorled scales, terminal or axillary. ♂ strobili (cones) with 3-5 pollen sacs (microsporangia) on lower surface of each scale. ♀ cones with 2-numerous, erect ovules on upper surface of the ovuliferous scales (megasporophylls). Bract completely united with scale. Fr. usually a woody cone, more rarely the scales becoming fleshy and coalescent. Seeds winged or not; cotyledons 2-6.

18 genera, c. 130 spp., N. and S. temperate zones and tropical montane regions.

In addition to the genera treated below, there are 2 others very commonly cultivated in N.Z. which have been reported but not confirmed as wild. Thujopsis Siebold et Zucc. is a monotypic genus closely related to Thuja, but with broader branchlets, larger lvs and 3-5 seeds to each fertile scale. Thujopsis dolabrata Siebold et Zucc. is commonly seen in old and abandoned garden shrubberies and windbreaks where it can appear almost naturalised. Juniperus L., junipers, the largest genus in the family, has a number of spp. cultivated in N.Z.; all are identifiable by the crushed foliage smelling of gin and the fleshy, blue-black or dark brown berry-like frs composed of enlarged succulent scales, which are generally covered with a whitish bloom. One of the commonest, the upright shrub J. communis L., has been reported wild in Dansey's Pass Scenic Reserve, Otago, but this record is unsubstantiated.