Arauquoia,

in southern Florida you may have success of tropical conifer genuses. But not all. Species of bigger "continental" origin seems to be better at first, let New Caledonian conifers later. Borneo, Malaysia from higher altitudes. The New Zealand and South Africa species (and cultivars) are almost surely surving there, others must be proved with seedbeds. Species with big area are also hopeful.

Collect seeds of Podocarpaceae so much, as you can. Ask also Greg Sampson of Cedar Lodge Nursery NZL.

Zsolt

P. hypophyllus has been tried at Atlanta and Montgomery Botanical Center. At both places it has been very difficult to grwo, being very susceptible to foliar pathogens. The entire genus Phyllocladus is difficult here. The only species even worth trying really is P. trichomanoides. I have kept it alive - in a pot, in a cooler greenhouse for a while.

A. hunsteinii is quite tender, more so than A. bidwillii. There is decent one in Orlando and also Chad has a nice one at Montgomery. I have 2 seedlings here and they received some damage last winter and weren't exposed to the worst of it.

G'Day from Tasmania,
Phyllocladus hypophyllus does quite well here although it is extremely rare and not seen outside of botanical collections. The climate here is cool temperate and Winter lows in my location typically range from around -2C to 4C with maximums rarely exceeding 15C during this time. Frosts range in severity but rarely would temperatures fall below -2C (30F) with maybe up to 15 frosts per year. My plants have survived unscathed but I suspect your climate zone may be quite a bit colder. Fortunately, I have all other species in the genus which all do well here and all are extremely interesting foliage plants. All are slow to strike from cuttings with P. glaucus (syn P. toatoa) being the most difficult. Fresh seed will germinate after about 12 months. Have not encountered Araucaria hunsteinii but A cunninghamii and A bidwillii are cold tolerant and do quite well here despite their sub tropical origins.

Tasmanii,

I had the impression that the Phyllocladus genus liked cool temperate climate. I tried one from New Zealand in Georgia (USA) (I forget the species name), and it melted in the hot and humid summer.

When I saw Phyllocladus hypophyllus (from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Papua New Guinea), I thought, Well, maybe, hypophyllus could handle the summers.

Another consideration, as you indicate, is cold-hardiness. I was thinking about trying hypophyllus in coastal Georgia (not zone 7b), where the winters are milder. At the coast, there are different zones warming up as one goes closer to the ocean. At landÂs end, the temperature in winter may stay above 32F for many winters and dip below only in the odd winter. How far does it dip in that odd winter? Maybe, to 30F. Maybe, to 29F for a short couple of hours. On islands farther inland from the open ocean, the dip may go to 28, to 27, and so forth, every 4 to 5 winters.

So if a plant is cold-hardy to the above degree, IÂm back to the consideration whether the plant can handle the hot and humid summers (and whether it can handle, as salicaceae mentions, the pathogens that rage at the summer peak of heat and humidity).

I always imagine that Tasmania is like coastal California  not too hot, not too cold, cool temperate with dry summers(?). The moderate temperatures allow all manner of plants to survive and even thrive. The dry summers seem to allow plants to stay on top of pathogens. In other words, plant heaven.

G'Day Arauquoia.
not quite plant heaven here but almost with frost a consideration for those plants from the more northern latitudes. The other extreme with temperatures here are during summer where the mercury can reach 42C (108F) although this does not occur often and days over 35C are restricted to 8-10 days per year. Cold fronts from the south and west can plummet temperatures from 35C one day to 15C the next without surprising. Humidity levels vary immensly with the passage of the cold fronts and the roaring forties influencing air movement.
Dryness would be more an issue for Phyllocladus rather than absolute heat as they will not tolerate drying out at all, killing them almost instantly. The species endemic to Tasmania (Phyllocladus aspleniifolius) grows as an emergent rainforest species and occasionally as a stunted sub alpine shrub on poorer soils and usually has overhead protection from other species (Eucalyptus ssp & Nothofagus etc.)
Give Phyllocladus hypophyllus a moist, well composted and well drained soil with a heavy mulch and you just never know your luck!

I've seen the plants in habitat. Totally in wet, misty montane environment ie 15 - 28 C range. If you have that high humidity and cool temperatures w/o the ice/frost, and no dry summers and highs in excess of 30+ C, they should grow. They are found from 1000 m all to way up. Getting more stunted by wind and lack of soil. No where in south east asia are the mountains tall enough for prolong ice/frost except in new guinea. If you can grow tropical rhodos i think you have the right conditions for this conifer.

In 1980 I sowed some Agathis ( robusta,vitiensis,australis) and Araucaria ( cunninghamlii, heterophylla, angustifolia, hunsteinii, bidwilii ). After 15 years in pot , they were 2m-3m high plants. I all planted them in South France near Bordeaux. In some winters sometimes it has been -5 to -8C. Till today all died except Araucaria angustifolia.This must be the hardiest after araucana.
Phyllocladus trichomanoides is not hardy enough here in Germany, but there is a hardy selection : Phyllocladus asplenifoilius var.alpinus, which survived the last cold winters till -10C/ -12C/-15 C.

Wolfgang