Buddhist pine

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Leisure · Subcategory: Singular trees

This distinctive small-to-medium tree (Podocarpus macrophyllus), native to the Far East (southern Japan and China), stands on Calle Suárez Guerra.
Also called podocarp: though known as a pine, it is not a true pine conifer, but a plant much used in gardening and as bonsai for its longevity and dark-green foliage. From its rough trunk grow branches with handle-shaped, narrow, leathery leaves, a prominent midrib on both sides and a sharp tip, arranged in clusters.
It flowers in April and May, in cream-white axillary catkins. The fruit is an oval blue-purple berry.
The Buddhist pine is regarded as a tree of high standing and environmental value.

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