Real
Yellowwood
(Podocarpus latifolius)
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The
Yellowwood family is primeval and has been present in this
part of Africa for more than 100 million years. The
species is widespread and is found from Table Mountain, along
the southern and eastern Cape coast, in the ravines of the
Drakensberg up to the Soutpansberg and the Blouberg in the
Northern Province.
In forests they can grow up to 40 meters in height with the base of the trunk sometimes up to 3 meters in diameter. In contrast, trees that grow in unsheltered places like mountain-slopes, are often short, bushy and gnarled. The bark of the Real Yellowwood is khaki-colored to gray when it is old, deeply split and peels off in strips. The crown is relatively small in relation to its height and is often covered with gray lichen. Male and female cones resemble pine cones and are white, light green or pink. The female cone has a fleshy podocarpium on which the seed, which takes on the shape and color of a cherry, develops.
Last Revised:
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
