Diselma

Diselma archeri, called the dwarf pine or Cheshunt pine, is a conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae and the only species in the monotypic genus Diselma. It grows only in the alpine and subalpine parts of southwest and central Tasmania, from roughly 580 to 1,400 metres above sea level, in high elevation rainforest and moist alpine heathland. It is a compact, often prostrate shrub usually 1 to 4 metres tall, with grey-green foliage of tiny overlapping scale leaves arranged in opposite pairs, which gives the branchlets a square cross-section. The plants are dioecious, with very small male and female cones at the branch tips and winged seeds spread by wind. The species is very sensitive to fire. Its closest relative appears to be the South American conifer Fitzroya, and fossils suggest it is a paleoendemic, the last survivor of a once wider genus.