About the plant
Podocarpus matudae is native to El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.
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Vulnerable
The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species uses a set of criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of the world’s species. The ongoing mission is to evaluate every plant species in the world.
IUCN Red List Status:
Not yet evaluatedData deficientLeast concernNear threatenedVulnerableEndangeredCritically endangeredExtinct in the wildExtinct -
MaterialPlant provides materials for manufacturing either fibre or timber
Facts
- Red or purple receptacles
- Named for Eizi Matuda, a Mexican botanist of Japanese origin
- Prized for its wood
- Harvested illegally

© Aljos Farjon

© Ross Bayton

© Harriet Maxwell

By Stan Shebs via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Prized for its wood
The finely grained yellow wood of this tree makes it high valuable for building and construction purposes.
But it is not suitable for timber farming. The best timber trees should grow quickly and close together. P. matudae is slow growing so can only be harvested sustainably at very long rotations. Populations are naturally scattered.
The receptacles (fleshy structure under the seed) are brightly coloured and attract birds, who distribute the seed far and wide. P. matudae likes to grow mixed in with other tree types, alongside broadleaved species like oaks, alders and magnolias.
-
Vulnerable
The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species uses a set of criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of the world’s species. The ongoing mission is to evaluate every plant species in the world.
IUCN Red List Status:
Not yet evaluatedData deficientLeast concernNear threatenedVulnerableEndangeredCritically endangeredExtinct in the wildExtinct -
MaterialPlant provides materials for manufacturing either fibre or timber