''Afrocarpus falcatus'' ( syn. ''Podocarpus falcatus'') is a species of

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

in the family

Podocarpaceae Podocarpaceae is a large family of mainly Southern Hemisphere conifers, known in English as podocarps, comprising about 156 species of evergreen trees and shrubs.James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. ''Conifers of the World''. Portland, Oregon: Timber Pr ...

. It is native to the montane forests of southern Africa, where it is distributed in

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, and Eswatini. Common names include common yellowwood, bastard yellowwood, outeniqua yellowwood, African pine tree, weeping yew,''Afrocarpus falcatus'' (Thunb.) C.N.Page.
Plant Resources of Tropical Africa (PROTA). af, outeniekwageelhout, ''kalander'', st, mogôbagôba, xh, umkhoba and zu, umsonti.Protected Trees.
Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, Republic of South Africa. 3 May 2013. It is widespread, in some areas abundant, and not considered threatened, but it is a protected tree in South Africa. It is grown as an ornamental tree, especially in South Africa, and occasionally abroad.

Description

This is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

conifer often growing up to about 45 meters tall, but known to reach 60 m. At higher elevations and in exposed, coastal habitat it rarely exceeds 25 m tall. The trunk can be 2 to 3 m wide, and is gray-brown to reddish. It is smooth and ridged on young stems, but increasingly flaky on older trunks. The leaves are arranged in spirals on the branches. They are small and narrow, up to 4.5 cm long by about 6 mm wide. They are green to yellowish, hairless, and leathery and somewhat waxy in texture. It is a dioecious species, with male and female structures on separate plants. The male

cone A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines con ...

is brown with spiralling scales and measures 5 to 15 mm long by 3 mm wide. It grows from the leaf axils. The female cone has one scale bearing one seed about 1 to 2 cm long. The gray-green seed is drupe-like with a woody coat covered in a fleshy, resinous skin. Some of the largest individuals occur in the Knysna-Amatole montane forests, where some specimens are over 1,000 years old.

Biology

Female trees bear their fruit irregularly, only every few years. The fleshy epimatium of the strobilus (or "cone") covers all of the seed, and ripens to a yellow colour, when it acquires a soft, jelly-like consistency. The main agents of

seed dispersal In Spermatophyte plants, seed dispersal is the movement, spread or transport of seeds away from the parent plant. Plants have limited mobility and rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their seeds, including both abiotic vectors ...

are

fruit bats In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...

, which eat the fleshy covering but discard the hard, woody seed. Many birds feed on the fruits, such as

Cape parrot The Cape parrot (''Poicephalus robustus'') or Levaillant's parrot is a large, temperate forest dwelling parrot of the genus ''Poicephalus'' endemic to South Africa. It was formerly grouped as a subspecies along with the savanna-dwelling brown-nec ...

purple-crested turaco The purple-crested turaco (''Gallirex porphyreolophus'') or, in South Africa, the purple-crested loerie, is a species of bird in the clade Turaco with an unresolved phylogenetic placement. Initial analyses placed the purple-crested turaco in the ...

Knysna turaco The Knysna turaco (''Tauraco corythaix''), or, in South Africa, Knysna loerie, is a large turaco, one of a group of African musophagidae birds. It is a resident breeder in the mature evergreen forests of southern and eastern South Africa, and Sw ...

Ross's turaco Ross's turaco or Lady Ross's turaco (''Tauraco rossae'') is a mainly bluish-purple African bird of the turaco family, Musophagidae. Characteristics This species expresses very little sexual dimorphism, with both males and females being the same ...

African olive pigeon The African olive pigeon or Rameron pigeon (''Columba arquatrix'') is a pigeon which is a resident breeding bird in much of eastern and southern Africa from Ethiopia to the Cape. Populations also are found in western Angola, southwestern Saudi Ara ...

African green pigeon The African green pigeon (''Treron calvus'') is a species of bird in the family Columbidae, and one of 5 green pigeon species in the Afrotropics. The species has a wide range in Sub-Saharan Africa with around 17 accepted races. Description and ...

, and eastern bronze-naped pigeon. Animals that feed on the seeds include colobus monkeys,

bushpig :''"Bush pig" may also refer to the red river hog. The bushpig (''Potamochoerus larvatus'') is a member of the pig family that inhabits forests, woodland, riverine vegetation and cultivated areas in East and Southern Africa. Probably introduce ...

s, hornbills,

turaco The turacos make up the bird family Musophagidae ( "banana-eaters"), which includes plantain-eaters and go-away-birds. In southern Africa both turacos and go-away-birds are commonly known as loeries. They are semi-zygodactylous: the fourth ( ...

s, and rodents. These may not be effective seed dispersal agents, because it appears that seeds that have gone through animal guts do not

germinate Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or spore. The term is applied to the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the spores of fungi, fer ...

well. The tree has been found to host

arbuscular mycorrhiza An arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) (plural ''mycorrhizae'', a.k.a. ''endomycorrhiza'') is a type of mycorrhiza in which the symbiont fungus (''AM fungi'', or AMF) penetrates the cortical cells of the roots of a vascular plant forming arbuscules. ( ...

e. It may grow as a solitary tree, in small clusters, or in wide monotypic stands. It is associated with African juniper (''Juniperus procera'').

Uses

The

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...

, often called podo or yellowwood, is good for construction, particularly

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befo ...

. It is also made into plywood and used to make many products, including furniture, boxes, vats, toys, farm implements, musical instruments, and

railroad tie A railroad tie, crosstie (American English), railway tie ( Canadian English) or railway sleeper ( Australian and British English) is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties tran ...

s. It is used in the construction of houses. It is also used as firewood. Some examples of South African yellowwood antique woodworking were created with the wood of this tree. The wood is also used for making floor boards and parquet blocks. The bark contains 3-4%

tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner'' ...

and is used for tanning

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hog ...

.Making the Most of Indigenous Trees by Fanie & Julye-Ann Venter, Briza Publications,

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

, First edition 1996, The wood is useful, but not very durable, as it is susceptible to

blue stain fungus Blue stain fungi (also known as sap stain fungi) is a vague term including various fungi that cause dark staining in sapwood. The staining is most often blue, but could also be grey or black. Because the grouping is based solely on symptomatics, it ...

powderpost beetle Powderpost beetles are a group of seventy species of woodboring beetles classified in the insect subfamily Lyctinae. These beetles, along with spider beetles, death watch beetles, common furniture beetles, skin beetles, and others, make up the ...

longhorn beetle The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns, are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described. Most species are characterized by extremely long antennae, which are often as long as or longer than ...

s, and

termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blatto ...

s. The seed is edible, but

resin In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on n ...

ous. The bark and seeds have been used in

traditional African medicine Traditional African medicine is a range of traditional medicine disciplines involving indigenous herbalism and African spirituality, typically including diviners, midwives, and herbalists. Practitioners of traditional African medicine claim ...

. The tree is cultivated as an ornamental and a

windbreak A windbreak (shelterbelt) is a planting usually made up of one or more rows of trees or shrubs planted in such a manner as to provide shelter from the wind and to protect soil from erosion. They are commonly planted in hedgerows around the edges ...

, and to prevent

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dis ...

. It has been used as a Christmas tree.

Conservation

The species has been vulnerable to logging, a practice which likely claimed many large, ancient specimens. In parts of South Africa logging has ceased, but in other regions the situation is not known. In general, it is not considered a current threat.

Gallery

References

External links

PlantZAfrica.com

Images on iSpot

SA Forestry Magazine
{{Taxonbar, from=Q916650 Podocarpaceae Afromontane flora Flora of Malawi Flora of Mozambique Flora of Swaziland Flora of South Africa Flora of the Cape Provinces Trees of Africa Least concern plants Least concern biota of Africa Protected trees of South Africa Trees of Mediterranean climate Garden plants of Southern Africa Ornamental trees Plants used in bonsai