I have no idea if this tree in Stanley Park opposite the Rose Garden is common and I should know it, or rare. Leaves are sort of yew-like without pointed tips; catkins are sort of birch-like.
Podocarpus macrophyllus, The Yew Plum Pine, or Japanese Yew. This is my offer of a name. Only concern is that the leaves are not drooping as is normal with the Yew Plum Pine.
Thank you all. Well, it's not common, but I should know it! I have photographed this in Hawai'i (in landscape), where I figured out the ID myself, but they had fruits (and the pollen cones as seen here). Ha-ha, nor a plum. Do you think it would be P. macrophyllus var maki? Or is that 'Maki'? I see both mentioned. This is around the maximum size for that.
Hey Wendy Here's the fruit on one of our native P. elatus. elatus grows reasonably quickly to 30 metres. You can see how the name Yew plum came about
Thanks for the photo, @Puddleton. Actually, I do have a photo from 2015 of what I decided was Podocarpus macrophyllus in front of an apartment building in Waikiki.
Wrongly so; unfortunately wikipedia isn't very trustworthy when it comes to plant taxonomy and nomenclature. If you do some genetic tests, they'll show it definitely isn't a pine. Just because some ignorami incorrectly say it is a pine, doesn't make it a pine. #FactsFirst. https://twitter.com/CNN/status/922402297581375488?s=20
