Flora of New Zealand Series

Evergreen dioecious trees and shrubs with thin bark. Lvs spirally inserted, appearing 2-ranked, usually not resinous. ♂ fls (microsporophylls) axillary, solitary or aggregated into cones or heads (strobili), each with a terminal peltate shield bearing 2-14 anthers (microsporangia). ♀ fls (macrosporangia) solitary or paired in the axils of decussate scale lvs on reduced vegetative shoots, not forming a cone; ovule solitary, erect, terminal, on a direct continuation of a very short floral axis, and thus ovule not borne on a scale. Seed with 1 integument, partly or wholly surrounded by an aril which becomes fleshy and often brightly coloured, wingless; cotyledons 2.

5 genera, 20 spp., mostly N. Hemisphere but 1 in New Caledonia.

Following Sporne, K. R., The Morphology of Gymnosperms (1965), the taxads are given equal rank with the conifers at ordinal level.