Dacrydium cupressinum, rimu or red pine is endemic to the North, South and Stewart Islands - uncommon in large parts of the eastern South Island. It is found in lowland to montane forest - occasionally ascending to subalpine scrub, from sea-level to 760m asl. It is all but extinct on Banks Peninsula, where one natural male tree is all that remains. Rimu was probably always local and uncommon on Banks Peninsula. It is a dioecious conifer that grows 35(-60) m tall with trunks bare of branches for 3/4 of length on adult plants, that can have a trunk 1.5-2 m diameter, with dark red wood, and dark brown bark that falls off in large thick flakes.  Juveniles plants have numerous, slender, pendulous branchlets, whilst adult trees few branches that are spreading, with slender, pendulous  branchlets. It has overlapping dark green, bronze-green, red-green or orange, leaves all around the branchlets. It is a very distinctive species which could not be confused with any other indigenous conifer. The very young juveniles have a superficial similarly to seedlings of silver pine (Manoao colensoi) but differ by their much finer, more numerous, dull rather than glossy red-green leaves. Flowering occurs from December to March, and male and female flowers are on different trees, rarely on the same tree. Fruits take a year or more to mature and co-occur with young female cones, they are most frequently seen between February and May. Although it prefers a sheltered site with deep, rich, moist soil (not waterlogged), it is tolerant of quite dry conditions once established. It is not threatened, although as a forest-type it has been greatly reduced through widespread logging. Very few intact examples of rimu-dominated forest remain in the North Island. The beautiful heart timber of rimu is a deep red colour, and is strong and durable, and has/and is used in house building, furniture making, panelling and for wood turning.