Common name: Blue Mountains Pine
Pherosphaera fitzgeraldii (F.Muell.) F.Muell. ex Hook.f. APNI* Synonyms: Microstrobos fitzgeraldii (F.Muell.) J.Garden & L.A.S.Johnson APNI*
Description: Ascending or erect shrub with drooping branchlets to 1 m high or sometimes with straggling branches and to 2 m diam.
Leaves 2.5–3.5 mm long, narrow, slightly incurved, whitish on the upper surface; green and shining below, shortly decurrent.
Monoecious, perhaps rarely dioecious. Male cones ovate to globose, c. 6 mm long. Female cones c. 3 mm long with 4–8 scales.
Distribution and occurrence: Usually grows on wet rocks within the spray of waterfalls or on ledges or in caves near waterfalls; restricted to southerly aspects on sandstone near waterfalls in the Katoomba to Wentworth Falls area of the Blue Mtns.
NSW subdivisions: CT
Threatened species: NSW BCA: Endangered; Commonwealth EPBC: Endangered
A recent review of patterns of male and female cone expression in Pherosphaera fitzgeraldii, Delaney (2025), concluded that most individuals are monoecious. Though this study was not able to rule out the possibility that some individuals express only one sex, it did conclusively demonstrate that most herbarium specimens gathered to date express male and female cones on the same individuals but, due to their small size and similarity to adjacent sterile microphylls, female cones have often been missed in examination of herbarium materials.
Text by G. J. Harden & J. Thompson, updated 15 Dec 2025 by Renner.
Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 1 (1990)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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