''Podocarpus milanjianus'' is a species of
conifer 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 highlands and mountains of
tropical Africa
Although tropical Africa is mostly familiar to the West for its rainforests, this biogeographic realm of Africa is far more diverse. While the tropics are thought of as regions with hot moist climates, which are caused by latitude and the trop ...
.
Description
''Podocarpus milanjianus'' is an evergreen tree which can grow slowly up to 35 meters in height, and up to 40 meters in favorable conditions. It is generally conical in form, with a straight cylindrical trunk. The trunk of mature trees can range from 150 to 300 cm in diameter, and unbranched for the first 10 to 20 meters from the ground. Some trees have a
buttressed base. The leaves are narrow, glossy, and bright green.
[Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. Accessed 8 March 2022. ]
The trees are
dioecious, and both male and female trees are required to produce fruit and seeds.
[
]
Habitat and range
''Podocarpus milanjianus'' is the most widespread African podocarp
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 found in ]Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
, Burundi, Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
, Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
...
, 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 ...
, Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...
, Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...
, Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...
, and Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...
.[
It grows in evergreen tropical montane rainforests, cloud forests, and high-elevation dwarf forests, between 900 and 3,250 meters elevation.][
The tree is widespread and locally plentiful, and is rated "least concern" in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.][
]
Relationship to ''Podocarpus latifolius''
''Podocarpus milanjianus'' is closely related to '' Podocarpus latifolius''. Whether they are a single or two separate species is not settled. Some authorities treat the South African populations as ''Podocarpus latifolius'', and those elsewhere in Africa as ''Podocarpus milanjianus''. Others treat them as a single species, ''Podocarpus latifolius''.[
A 2020 study sampled DNA from ''Podocarpus latifolius'' and ''Podocarpus milanjianus'' trees, gathered from 88 sites across Africa. They concluded that all populations sampled constituted a single species: "As South African samples (''P. latifolius'') did not form a clade separated from the other clades (''P. milanjianus''), we confirm that the two taxa can be considered as synonyms." The authors concluded that the species originated in East Africa. The western populations, in the highlands of Cameroon and Nigeria and in the Angolan highlands, diverged from the other populations around 300,000 years ago, and the species reached its current distribution pattern about 200,000 years ago.][Jérémy Migliore, Anne-Marie Lézine, Olivier J Hardy, The recent colonization history of the most widespread Podocarpus tree species in Afromontane forests, Annals of Botany, Volume 126, Issue 1, 29 June 2020, Pages 73–83, https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaa049]
Uses
''Podocarpus milanjianus'' is valued as a timber tree, both commercially and artisanally. It produces straight pale yellow timber, which is fine-grained and easily sawn and worked.[
The tree is used to provide shade in tea, coffee, cocoa, and banana plantations, in reforestation projects, and as a roadside or ornamental tree.][
Parts of the tree have minor local uses as food (the fleshy receptacles at the seed base) or medicine (bark or leaves).][
]
References
milanjianus
Least concern plants
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Afromontane flora
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