''Podocarpus henkelii'' (Henkel's yellowwood, af, Henkel-se-Geelhout, xh, Umsonti, zu, Umsonti) is a South African species of

conifer Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All ext ...

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 P ...

. It is grown ornamentally in gardens for its strikingly neat, attractive form and its elegant, drooping foliage.

Description

An attractive

ornamental tree Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...

, this is one of the most recognisable of the yellowwoods. It can easily be distinguished from its close relatives by its long, slender, drooping leaves. It has a straight, well-formed trunk and naturally assumes a pyramid-shape as it grows, eventually becoming very tall (30m). Like all yellowwoods, this tree is

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproducti ...

, with separate male and female trees. As

s they produce cones, although it is their fruit-like seeds that are most prominent. These seeds are eaten and distributed by birds. The fleshy coating of the seed contains a germination inhibitor so being eaten actually helps germination by removing this coating.

Distribution

Henkel's yellowwood is found in

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

, in the

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is loca ...

and

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

provinces. Here it grows in the high, moist, afro-montane forest of the

Drakensberg The Drakensberg (Afrikaans: Drakensberge, Zulu: uKhahlambha, Sotho: Maluti) is the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment, which encloses the central Southern African plateau. The Great Escarpment reaches its greatest elevation – within t ...

mountains. In addition it is now found in gardens throughout

, where it is grown as an elegant

. It is a protected tree in South Africa. Although it is the real yellowwood tree that is officially South Africa's national tree, the yellowwoods as a group – including Henkel's yellowwood – are felt to hold that position in practise.

Name and cultivation

This tree was named after Caesar Carl Hans Henkel (1839–1913), the

forester, and father of John Spurgeon Henkel, Conservator of Forests for Natal and Zululand. ''Podocarpus henkelii'' is increasingly grown in gardens around southern Africa for its neat, attractive form and decorative foliage. It is easy to cultivate, tough once established, and incredibly long-lived. It can also be pruned if necessary, to change its shape. However, although it is mildly

frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above-freezing atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing, and resulting in a phase change from water vapor (a g ...

and

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

resistant, it is healthiest (and grows fastest) when planted in deep, moist soils. It can be propagated from seed, which should be planted promptly in a moist, semi-shade position. The fleshy fruit that surrounds the seed must be removed as this inhibits germination. The seed is also vulnerable to fungal infection. Henkel's yellowwood is a protected tree in South Africa.

Potential uses

Acetone and methanol extracts of ''Podocarpus henkelii'' have shown activity against canine distemper virus and

lumpy skin disease virus Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is an infectious disease in cattle caused by a virus of the family ''Poxviridae'', also known as Neethling virus. The disease is characterized by large fever, enlarged superficial lymph nodes and multiple nodules (measuri ...

.Bagla VP, McGaw LJ, Eloff JN/,"The antiviral activity of six South African plants traditionally used against infections in ethnoveterinary medicine." ''Vet Microbiol''. 2011 Sep 17; File:Podocarpus henkelii 1.jpg, A medium-sized Henkels yellowwood. File:Podocarpus henkelii - Yellowwood - Cape Town 4.JPG, Henkels yellowwood foliage.

References

Protected Trees of South Africa

Afromontane flora Flora of the Cape Provinces Flora of KwaZulu-Natal Least concern plants Ornamental trees Plants used in traditional African medicine henkelii Protected trees of South Africa Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{conifer-stub