Common Names

Henkel yellowwood, East Griqualand yellowwood, Natal yellowwood, bastergeelhout; umSonti (X) (Palmer and Pittman 1972).

Taxonomic notes

Syn: P. ensisculus Melville 1954 (de Laubenfels 1985); Podocarpus thunbergii var. falcata Sim. (Palmer and Pittman 1972).

Description

"[A] tall and beautiful tree very densely branched with a grey to khaki-coloured bark which sometimes peels in large pieces. The foliage is distinctive, a dense, heavy, shiny, dark green, conspicuously drooping.

"The leaves are spirally arranged or nearly opposite, or sometimes crowded at the ends of the branches. The adult leaves are usually more than [9 cm] long - up to [15 cm] or more - and [13 mm] wide, with the widest point about the middle. They taper to both ends. This species is sometimes confused with P. latifolius. The shape of the leaves helps to distinguish them for the true yellowwood has leaves more or less the same thickness in the middle, tapering only towards the apex.

"The male cone is [1.3-3.7 cm] long and is borne singly or in small groups together. The olive-green seed of the female tree, up to [2.5 cm] in length, has a leathery shell and a small, blue-green, thickened stalk which is never fleshy" (Palmer and Pittman 1972).

Range

South Africa and Tanganika. It grows "mainly on the southern slopes of forested hills in East Griqualand and southern Natal where there is a good rainfall and where mists are frequent. Reports of its occurrence in Swaziland and the Transvaal have been proved inaccurate" (Palmer and Pittman 1972).

Big Tree

Oldest

Dendrochronology

Ethnobotany

A popular ornamental, particularly in South Africa (Palmer and Pittman 1972).

Observations

Remarks

"This tree was named after Dr J.S. Henkel, formerly of the Forestry Department, who was the first to realize that this was a distinct species of yellowwood" (Palmer and Pittman 1972).

See Also