African Pine Tree
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African Pine Tree
''Afrocarpus falcatus'' ( syn. ''Podocarpus falcatus'') is a species of tree in the family Podocarpaceae. It is native to the montane forests of southern Africa, where it is distributed in Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, and Eswatini. Common names include common yellowwood, bastard yellowwood, outeniqua yellowwood, African pine tree, weeping yew, , ''kalander'', , and . 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 conifer often growing up to about tall, but known to reach . At higher elevations and in exposed, coastal habitat it rarely exceeds tall. The trunk can be 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 long by about wide. ...
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Garden Route National Park
The Garden Route National Park is a national park in the Garden Route region of the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces in South Africa. It is a coastal reserve well known for its indigenous forests, dramatic coastline, and the Otter Trail. It was established on 6 March 2009 by amalgamating the existing Tsitsikamma and Wilderness National Parks, the Knysna National Lake Area, and various other areas of state-owned land. The park covers about of land; of this, about was already part of the predecessor national parks. The park includes a continuous complex of approximately of indigenous forest. The Garden Route National Park (Tsitsikamma, Knysna and Wilderness Sections) has a pleasant, temperate climate; it is unique in Africa as the only area in which rainfall occurs throughout the year. Sections Tsitsikamma section The Tsitsikamma section of the park covers an long stretch of coastline with Nature's Valley is at the western end of the park. The section is kno ...
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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, such as the wind, and living (Biotic component, biotic) vectors such as birds. Seeds can be dispersed away from the parent plant individually or collectively, as well as dispersed in both space and time. The patterns of seed dispersal are determined in large part by the dispersal mechanism and this has important implications for the demographic and genetic structure of plant populations, as well as wikt:migration, migration patterns and species interactions. There are five main modes of seed dispersal: Gravitation, gravity, wind, ballistic, water, and by animals. Some plants are serotinous and only disperse their seeds in response to an environmental stimulus. These modes are typically inferred based on adaptations, such as wings or fle ...
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Germination
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, ferns, bacteria, and the growth of the pollen tube from the pollen grain of a seed plant. Seed plants Germination is usually the growth of a plant contained within a seed resulting in the formation of the seedling. It is also the process of reactivation of metabolic machinery of the seed resulting in the emergence of radicle and plumule. The seed of a vascular plant is a small package produced in a fruit or cone after the union of male and female reproductive cells. All fully developed seeds contain an embryo and, in most plant species some store of food reserves, wrapped in a seed coat. Dormant seeds are viable seeds that do not germinate because they require specific internal or environmental stimuli to resume growth. Und ...
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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 (outer) toe can be switched back and forth. The second and third toes, which always point forward, are conjoined in some species. Musophagids often have prominent crests and long tails; the turacos are noted for peculiar and unique pigments giving them their bright green and red feathers. Traditionally, this group has been allied with the cuckoos in the order Cuculiformes, but the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy raises this group to a full order Musophagiformes. They have been proposed to link the hoatzin to the other living birds, but this was later disputed. Recent genetic analyses have strongly supported the order ranking of Musophagiformes. Musophagidae is one of very few bird families endemic to Africa, one other being the mo ...
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Hornbill
Hornbills are birds found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia of the family Bucerotidae. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly coloured and sometimes has a horny casque on the upper mandible. Hornbills have a two-lobed kidney. They are the only birds in which the first and second neck vertebrae (the atlas and axis respectively) are fused together; this probably provides a more stable platform for carrying the bill. The family is omnivorous, feeding on fruit and small animals. They are monogamous breeders nesting in natural cavities in trees and sometimes cliffs. A number of mainly insular species of hornbill with small ranges are threatened with extinction, mainly in Southeast Asia. In the Neotropical realm, toucans occupy the hornbills' ecological niche, an example of convergent evolution. Despite their close appearances, the two groups are not very closely related, with toucans being allied with the woodpeckers, ...
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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 introduced populations are also present in Madagascar. There have also been unverified reports of their presence on the Comoro island of Mayotte. Bushpigs are mainly nocturnal. There are several subspecies. The vernacular name 'bushpig' may be used for either '' Potamochoerus'' species. Description Adult bushpigs stand from at the shoulder, and mature boars can reach a weight of , although is more common. Sows are . They resemble the domestic pig, and can be identified by their pointed, tufted ears and face mask. Bushpigs vary in hair colour and skin colour over their range, southern ''koiropotamus'' and ''nyasae'' populations are dark reddish, sometimes almost black. The coat colour darkens with age. Their heads have a 'face mask' with a ...
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Black-and-white Colobus
Black-and-white colobuses (or colobi) are Old World monkeys of the genus ''Colobus'', native to Africa. They are closely related to the red colobus monkeys of genus '' Piliocolobus''. There are five species of this monkey, and at least eight subspecies. They are generally found in high-density forests where they forage on leaves, flowers and fruit. Social groups of colobus are diverse, varying from group to group. Resident-egalitarian and allomothering relationships have been observed among the female population. Complex behaviours have also been observed in this species, including greeting rituals and varying group sleeping patterns. Colobi play a significant role in seed dispersal. Etymology The word "colobus" comes from the Greek (''kolobós'', "docked", "maimed") and refers to the stump-like thumb. Taxonomy Fossil species *†'' Colobus flandrini'' *†'' Colobus freedmani'' Behaviour and ecology Colobus habitats include primary and secondary forests, riverine for ...
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Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeon
The eastern bronze-naped pigeon (''Columba delegorguei''), also known as Delegorgue's pigeon, is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is found in Angola, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It is part of the ''Turturoena'' subgenus. The species is named after the collector, Adulphe Delegorgue. References External links * (Delegorgue's pigeon = ) eastern bronze-naped pigeon Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds * Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeon in South Africa Birds in Reserves Project
Columba (genus), eastern bronze-naped pigeon Birds of East Africa Birds described in 1847, eastern bronze-naped pigeon Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Columbiformes-stub ...
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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 Arabia and northern Yemen. It is locally common, although sizeable gaps in its distribution occur due to its habitat requirements. Description The adult male African olive pigeon is a large pigeon at in length and a weight of . Its back and wings are maroon, with the shoulders heavily speckled with white spots. The underparts are maroon with heavy white spotting, and the head is grey with yellow patches around the eye, and a yellow bill. The neck plumage, used in display, is streaked maroon and white, the underwing and undertail are dark grey, and the feet are yellow. Females are very similar but somewhat duller. Juvenile birds have the maroon and grey replaced with dark brown, the bare parts are a dull greenish-yellow, and the wing feather ...
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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 Eswatini. It was formerly sometimes considered to be a subspecies of the green turaco of West Africa. The Livingstone's turaco, Livingstone's and Schalow's turacos were once considered subspecies. This species lays two egg (biology), eggs in a shallow platform nest made from sticks and placed in a tree or clump of creepers. Within its range, this is an unmistakable bird, although often inconspicuous in the treetops. It is 40–42 cm long, including a long tail. The small but thick orange-red bill and a white line just under the eye contrast with the mainly green plumage. It has a tall green crest, which is tipped with white. The eye is brown and the eye-ring deep red. In flight, Knysna turaco shows conspicuous crimson primary flight fea ...
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