Detail of expanding shoot on a tree at the Los Angeles County Arboretum. Width of view about 20 cm [C.J. Earle, 12-Mar-1998].
Common Names
Henkel yellowwood, East Griqualand yellowwood, Natal yellowwood, bastergeelhout; umSonti (X) (3).Taxonomic notes
Syn: P. ensisculus Melville 1954 (2); Podocarpus thunbergii var. falcata Sim. (3).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" (3).
Range
South Africa and Tanganika (1). 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" (3).Big Tree
Oldest
Dendrochronology
Ethnobotany
A popular ornamental, particularly in South Africa (3).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" (3).Citations
(1) Silba 1986.(2) P.255 of de Laubenfels 1985.
(3) Palmer & Pitman 1972.
[Podocarpus] [Podocarpaceae] [home]
This page is from the Gymnosperm Database
URL: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/2285/po/po/henkelii.htm
Edited by Christopher J. Earle
E-mail:earlecj@earthlink.net
Last modified on 19-Dec-98