King Billy Pine

King Billy Pine, Athrotaxis selaginoides, is a conifer of the cypress family, Cupressaceae, despite its common name; it is not a true pine. It can grow into a substantial forest tree with a trunk up to two meters in diameter, and its shoots carry spirally arranged, claw-like leaves seven to eighteen millimeters long. Endemic to Tasmania, it grows in mountainous country at elevations of four hundred to eleven hundred twenty meters, where snow is common in the colder months and can fall year round. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, its population having declined by roughly forty percent over the past two centuries from fire and historical logging, though eighty four percent of its remaining forest is now protected.