Athrotaxis

Athrotaxis is the only living genus of the subfamily Athrotaxidoideae. A 2021 molecular study found the Athrotaxidoideae to be the sister group to the Sequoioideae, which contains famously massive species such as the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum). This is despite both subfamilies' current distributions being on entirely different hemispheres. The study indicates that both taxa diverged during the mid to late Jurassic.[3] The oldest fossil of the genus is known from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian) of Santa Cruz Province in Argentina, South America, with other fossils of the genus known from New Zealand, eastern Australia, and possibly North America. Other fossils of the subfamily are known from the Late Jurassic of Europe, as well as the Early Cretaceous of North America and China,[4] as well as possibly the Early Cretaceous of Europe, and Late Cretaceous of South America and North America.[5]

The three taxa of Athrotaxis are variously treated as three distinct species, or as two species, with the third taxon being a hybrid between the other two. To date, the evidence has been inconclusive, with some data suggesting hybrid origin, but other evidence suggesting the third is distinct and not a hybrid.[2]

Image	Leaves	Scientific name	Description	Distribution
		Pencil Pine Athrotaxis cupressoides D.Don.	Leaves short, 3–5 mm, adpressed tightly on the shoots. Cones small, 1-1.5 cm, scales with a small bract only covering the centre of the scale.	Tasmania, Australia.
		King Billy Pine or King William Pine Athrotaxis selaginoides D.Don.	Leaves long, 8–14 mm, spreading out from the shoots. Cones large, 2–3 cm, scales with a large bract nearly completely covering the scale.	Tasmania, Australia.
		Athrotaxis laxifolia Hook.	(? A. cupressoides × A. selaginoides). Leaves short, 4–7 mm, spreading out from the shoots. Cones intermediate, 1.5-2.5 cm, scales with a medium bract covering most of the scale.	Tasmania, Australia.