Callitris columellaris (?) in Venice, FL

[fastfeat]

 While doing a park tree inventory for City of Venice, I came across several unusual conifers that I'd never seen before. Growing in a couple of pocket parks and adjacent private parcels near Ponce de Leon Ave and Pensacola Rd, these trees are large, up to 42" DBH and over 60' tall. Most have seen better days, but like Juniperus silicicola/J. virginiana, they seem to last a long time in decline. Foliage is very fine, bark is almost black (as if charred by fire), and cones are small, six-pointed, and sit copiously atop the ferny branchlets. Overall look is considerably finer than Juniperus silicicola. 

 I don't know the story about how these trees came to end up in SW Florida, but I find it pretty amazing that an Australian conifer (likely from far different soil types) came to successfully make it for years on Florida sand. If it's not invasive (no evidence of volunteers locally), it could make an interesting addition to the very few conifers suitable for South Florida.

 BTW, ID is tentative. If anyone has additional info on Callitris ID in Florida, please submit.

 

 

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Cool!  we need new additions to our plant palette.  At first I thought it was a Casaurinacea, I have never seen a Callitris.

[Botanicus]

Wunderlin lists Callitris glaucophylla as being naturalized in parts of south Florida. I have heard that C. columellaris has naturalized in parts of S. Florida as well, though it seems there is some confusion about the proper names and varieties; so C. glaucophylla & C. columellaris are pretty much the same.

I'm growing C. columellaris and C. oblonga here in North Central Florida, so far they have survived heavy frosts, drought, and record rainfall without a scratch

[Eric in Orlando]

Callitirs columellaris was commonly planted in the 1920s-30s in central and southern Florida. It is very common in the Lake Wales/Lakeland/Plant City area. Going on I4 from Orlando to Tampa you start seeing them around Lakeland. There are some big and large specimens at Oaklawn Cemetary in Plant City and atBok Tower Gardens. There also used to be some at the former Cypress Gardens. It has naturalized in parts of south-central FL but isn't invasive. I've seen a few around Orlando. There used to be several growing along I4 in Orlando (near the Kaley exit and Princeton exit) but they have since been removed with the big expansion project.

Its a great tree that should be used again but no one commercially grows it.

 

[Eric in Orlando]

Currently Kew list C. glaucophylla as a synonym of C. columellaris.

[fastfeat]

6 hours ago, Botanicus said:

Wunderlin lists Callitris glaucophylla as being naturalized in parts of south Florida. I have heard that C. columellaris has naturalized in parts of S. Florida as well, though it seems there is some confusion about the proper names and varieties; so C. glaucophylla & C. columellaris are pretty much the same.

I'm growing C. columellaris and C. oblonga here in North Central Florida, so far they have survived heavy frosts, drought, and record rainfall without a scratch

Do you have any pics of C. oblonga? 

[fastfeat]

4 hours ago, Eric in Orlando said:

Currently Kew list C. glaucophylla as a synonym of C. columellaris.

Thanks for the historical perspective and locations. Will keep an eye out for them on I-4 when I head up to O'town soon...

Heard from Chad Husby who said that he couldn't get C. columellaris to grow on limestone at MBC, but was successful with C. glaucophylla. Sounds like soil tolerance, like foliage coloration, is another variable depending on provenance... 

[fastfeat]

On 7/30/2017, 11:52:06, Jerry@TreeZoo said:

Cool!  we need new additions to our plant palette.  At first I thought it was a Casaurinacea, I have never seen a Callitris.

Will try to find some unopen cones if you want some seeds...

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

7 hours ago, fastfeat said:

Will try to find some unopen cones if you want some seeds...

Yes Please!

[Eric in Orlando]

This is the biggest one I have come across in the Orlando area.

 

[Eric in Orlando]

Here are some at Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales

 

 

[Eric in Orlando]

Oaklawn Cemetery in Plant City

 

 

[Eric in Orlando]

16 hours ago, fastfeat said:

Thanks for the historical perspective and locations. Will keep an eye out for them on I-4 when I head up to O'town soon...

Heard from Chad Husby who said that he couldn't get C. columellaris to grow on limestone at MBC, but was successful with C. glaucophylla. Sounds like soil tolerance, like foliage coloration, is another variable depending on provenance... 

Chad gave us a Callitris intratropica. When younger it had a nice silvery blue coloring but since then it has turned green.

We also have several C. columellaris and a C. preissii in the collection. We had a nice C. glaucophylla but it just up and died last year. RPS sold seed of C. columellaris years ago and it had good germination.

There are some naturalized stands of this over in Brevard County. Years ago it had been misidentified as Chamaecyparis thyoides var. henryae.

 

[Pip]

Oh wow! Those Callitris grow better in Florida than they do here in South Australia. They are much more dainty here.

[tropicbreeze]

13 hours ago, Eric in Orlando said:

Chad gave us a Callitris intratropica. When younger it had a nice silvery blue coloring but since then it has turned green.

We also have several C. columellaris and a C. preissii in the collection. We had a nice C. glaucophylla but it just up and died last year. RPS sold seed of C. columellaris years ago and it had good germination.

There are some naturalized stands of this over in Brevard County. Years ago it had been misidentified as Chamaecyparis thyoides var. henryae.

 

Callitris intratropica is native here (north west Australia) but Kew now lists it as a synonym of C. columellaris. I find it difficult to pick the difference between them but the species here grows taller than those of Cape York Peninsula (Queensland).

Because the wood is resistant to termites and other pests they were planted in their thousands here with the idea setting up mills and exporting the timber. The idea died in the 'proverbial' and now there are plantations of them all over the place. A lot of the land was subdivided into rural blocks and many people have built and live amongst them. From what I've heard the growth was too slow to make it a viable industry and that's why it was abandoned, but after the plantings had already been done.

And another bit of trivia, the indigenous people here burn the wood as a mosquito repellent. It works reasonably well and the fragrance is pleasant, like incense.

[fastfeat]

On 8/1/2017, 8:35:22, Eric in Orlando said:

Chad gave us a Callitris intratropica. When younger it had a nice silvery blue coloring but since then it has turned green.

We also have several C. columellaris and a C. preissii in the collection. We had a nice C. glaucophylla but it just up and died last year. RPS sold seed of C. columellaris years ago and it had good germination.

There are some naturalized stands of this over in Brevard County. Years ago it had been misidentified as Chamaecyparis thyoides var. henryae.

 

Thanks for the pics, Eric. Looks like a decent tree that, like so many other species, needs to be grown again by some nursery(s). 

It does seem like C. intratropica, C. glaucophylla have been lumped into C. columellaris. I'll leave those decisions to those who know...tho it seems that there are indeed variables that make provenance selection important when trying to pick locally-suitable specimens...

Funny,  Chamaecyparis thyoides  was where I first went looking at ID info as well...

Edited August 2, 2017 by fastfeat
added info

[fastfeat]

15 hours ago, tropicbreeze said:

Callitris intratropica is native here (north west Australia) but Kew now lists it as a synonym of C. columellaris. I find it difficult to pick the difference between them but the species here grows taller than those of Cape York Peninsula (Queensland).

Because the wood is resistant to termites and other pests they were planted in their thousands here with the idea setting up mills and exporting the timber. The idea died in the 'proverbial' and now there are plantations of them all over the place. A lot of the land was subdivided into rural blocks and many people have built and live amongst them. From what I've heard the growth was too slow to make it a viable industry and that's why it was abandoned, but after the plantings had already been done.

And another bit of trivia, the indigenous people here burn the wood as a mosquito repellent. It works reasonably well and the fragrance is pleasant, like incense.

Sounds like what had been done in a few areas of Southern California, largely with Eucalyptus cladocalyx. I suspect that at least Callitris' slower growth would make it more suitable for homes being in close proximity than Eucalyptus plantations. ;)

[Palms and Pines]

There is a sizable naturalized population of callitris coulmellaris over in micco, Florida. There’s some real big ones around a area I can presume was probably an old homestead. The second picture shows a sizable colony of descendents from the older speciments. I see Callitris of all sizes all over the town and also in Sebastian Florida. It is too bad they aren’t planted anymore, as they appear quite nice.