Telling the three podocarpus apart
All three are sold simply as “podocarpus” and are routinely confused. The differences are obvious once you know where to look — and leaf tip form settles it faster than anything else.
At a glance
| Costalis | Blue Ice | Kusamaki | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binomial | P. costalis | P. elongatus 'Monmal' | P. macrophyllus var. maki |
| Leaf shape | Broad, short | Narrow, elongated | Medium, straight |
| Leaf size | 3–5cm | 4–6cm | 5–7cm |
| Tip form | Blunt, rounded | Finely tapered | Blunt |
| Colour | Glossy deep green | Silver-blue | Matte deep green |
| Habit | Dense, spreading | Upright, pendulous | Stiffly upright |
| Growth rate | Slow | Moderate | Moderate–fast |
| Price band | High | Mid–high | Mid |
| Difficulty | Moderate | Moderate | Easy |
Costalis up close
Hold one leaf. If it feels thick and leathery and ends in a rounded tip with no point at all, it is costalis. The leaves are also the shortest and widest, which makes the branch ends look denser than the other two.
Blue Ice up close
Colour alone confirms it — nothing else in the genus is blue. If a tree looks green, check whether it has been kept in shade; the blue bloom thins without full sun.
Kusamaki up close
The longest, straightest leaves, spiralling tightly around the shoot. Turn a leaf over and the underside is pale and glaucous — something costalis never shows.
Which should you buy
- Starting out: kusamaki. Most forgiving, fastest to reward work, least expensive.
- Want a tree that reads old sooner: costalis, provided you are disciplined about watering.
- Want something nobody else has: Blue Ice, and give it a full-sun position.