Margbensonia neriifolia (D. Don) A. V. Bobrov & Melikyan; Podocarpus discolor Blume; P. leptostachyus Blume; ?P. macrophyllus (Thunberg) Sweet var. acuminatissimus E. Pritzel; ?P. neglectus Blume.

Trees to 25 m tall; trunk usually to 5 cm d.b.h.; bark grayish brown, thin, fibrous, peeling off in longitudinal flakes; branches spreading or ascending. Foliage bud scales erect, triangular, 1-1.5 mm wide, apex acute. Leaf blade lanceolate, usually slightly curved, (4-)7-15(-20) × (0.5-)0.9-1.3(-2) cm, leathery, midvein raised adaxially, flat or slightly raised abaxially, base cuneate into short petiole, apex long acuminate; juvenile leaves wider, with obtuse, mucronate apex. Pollen cones solitary or in clusters of 2 or 3, normally sessile, 2.5-5 cm, with several spirally arranged, basal bracts. Seed-bearing structures axillary, solitary; peduncle 0.9-2.2 cm. Receptacle orange-red when ripe, obconical-ellipsoid, 8-10 × 5-8 mm, base with 2 subulate bracts 2-6 mm. Epimatium purplish red when ripe. Seed ovoid or ovoid-subglobose, 0.8-1.6 cm, apex rounded or obtuse. Pollination May, seed maturity Aug-Nov. 2n = 34.

R. R. Mill considers that records of Podocarpus neriifolius from Taiwan should be referred in part to P. nakaii and in part to P. fasciculus de Laubenfels (Blumea 30: 277. 1985), which also occurs in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan (P. macrophyllus var. liukiuensis Warburg). Podocarpus fasciculus has pollen cones solitary or borne in clusters of 2-5 and leaf blades linear-lanceolate, with an acute apex. Mill also considers P. subtropicalis de Laubenfels (Blumea 30: 277. 1985), described from C Sichuan (Emei Shan), to be a separate species. D. J. de Laubenfels regards this as the most widely cultivated species of the genus in the warmer parts of the world (probably including many parts of China), and notes that it has often been misidentified as P. neriifolius, which is apparently rarely cultivated. It has pollen cones solitary or borne in clusters of 2-10 and leaf blades linear or linear-lanceolate, with an acute apex. However, L. K. Fu and Y. Li consider both P. fasciculus and P. subtropicalis to be synonymous with P. neriifolius. Further collections are needed to resolve the situation.

The wood is used in making furniture, musical instruments, carvings, and paper.

Evergreen broad-leaved forests; 100-1000 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Bhutan, Cambodia, NE India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam; Pacific Islands]