Afrocarpus

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Afrocarpus
Outeniqua Yellowwood tree Cape Town.jpg
Afrocarpus falcatus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Gymnospermae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Araucariales
Family: Podocarpaceae
Genus: Afrocarpus
(Buchanan-Hamilton & N.E.Gray) C.N.Page
Type species
Afrocarpus falcatus
Species

Afrocarpus is a genus of conifer of the family Podocarpaceae. Two to six species are recognized. They are evergreen trees native to Africa. Afrocarpus was designated a genus in 1989, when several species formerly classified in Podocarpus and Nageia were reclassified. [1]

Contents

Taxonomy

Afrocarpus gaussenii was based on a single specimen of a cultivated individual of Afrocarpus falcatus in Madagascar. Its distinctive features might have resulted from the conditions of its cultivation. No species of Afrocarpus is known to be native to Madagascar. [2]

In a recent treatment of Afrocarpus, only two species were recognized; A. dawei, A. gracilior, and A. usambarensis were sunk into A. falcatus. The reason for this merger was that "variation across the group appears to be essentially continuous". [2]

Studies based on anatomical, biogeographical, morphological, and DNA evidence suggest the following relationships:

Knopf 2012 [3] Stull 2021 [4] [5]
Afrocarpus
Afrocarpus

A. mannii (Hooker) Page

A. gracilior (Pilger) Page

A. falcatus (Thunberg) Gaussen ex Page

A. dawei (Stapf) Page

A. usambarensis (Pilger) Page

Species

ImageScientific nameCommon NameDistributionDescription
Afrocarpus dawei Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and the Congo Native to the highlands of east Africa
Afrocarpus falcatus, loof en bas, LC de Villiers-sportsentrum.jpg Afrocarpus falcatus common yellowwood, bastard yellowwood, outeniqua yellowwood, African fern pine, weeping yewSouth Africa, Swellendam District of Western Cape Province to Limpopo Province, and into southern Mozambique Commonly known as the Outeniqua yellowwood, is a tall tree, generally 10–25 m high, but growing up to 60 m. It is native to montane forests
Starr 061224-2869 Podocarpus sp..jpg Afrocarpus gracilior East African yellowwood Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and UgandaUsed in gardens as a tree, hedge, screen, or espalier; generally, it is sold as Podocarpus gracilior.
Afrocarpus mannii-Jardin des Plantes de Paris (3).jpg Afrocarpus mannii Pinheiro de São Tomé (lit. São Tomé pine) São Tomé Island in the Gulf of Guinea
Afrocarpus usambarensis Usambara yellowwood Burundi, Rwanda, the Congo, and Lushoto and Mbulu districts of Tanzania.

Description

Afrocarpus are evergreen trees. The individuals of the largest species, Afrocarpus falcatus , [6] may reach a height of 60 meters. [7] The thin bark often peels with scale-like plates. [8]

The leaves are simple and flat. The phyllotaxis or leaf arrangement is usually spiral but may be opposite on young plants. [8] The leaves are generally lanceolate in shape and coriaceous in texture. They have a single visible midrib. Stomata are found on both surfaces of the leaf. [8] [6]

Afrocarpus are dioecious, with male pollen cones and female seed cones borne on separate individual plants. The cones are short pedunculate and usually develop from axillary buds. [8]

The male pollen cones are narrowly cylindrical and resemble catkins. They grow in small groups of two or three cones. The peduncles are glabrous. Each pollen cone has numerous spirally inserted microsporophylls each with two basal pollen sacs producing bisaccate pollen. [8]

The female seed cones are solitary. Their peduncles may have small scale leaves. The cones consist of several sterile cone scales and one fertile cone scale with just one seed producing ovule. The sterile scales wither as the cone matures, unlike in the closely related genus Podocarpus where the scales fuse to form a fleshy receptacle. A part of the scale supporting the ovule develops into a rounded fleshy covering enclosing the seed entirely known as the epimatium. At maturity the epimatium varies in shape from subglobose to elliptic or obovoid and in color from greenish to yellow or brown. [8] [6]

Distribution

As the name intimates, Afrocarpus is native to Africa. The species are distributed through the Afromontane forests of eastern and southern Africa, descending to the Indian Ocean coast in South Africa. The genus is native to Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. [8] [6]

The podocarps are associated with the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana, where they were characteristic of the cool, moist southern Gondwana flora. Gondwana broke up into the continents of South America, Africa, India, Australia, and Antarctica between 160 and 30 million years ago. As Africa drifted north, it became hotter and drier, and the podocarps generally retreated to the cool, moist highlands of eastern and southern Africa.

Uses

In South Africa, this wood is mostly used to make exclusive furniture.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gymnosperm</span> Clade of non-flowering, naked-seeded vascular plants

The gymnosperms are a group of woody, perennial seed-producing plants, typically lacking the protective outer covering which surrounds the seeds in flowering plants, that include conifers, cycads, Ginkgo, and gnetophytes, forming the clade Gymnospermae The term gymnosperm comes from the composite word in Greek: γυμνόσπερμος, and literally means 'naked seeds'. The name is based on the unenclosed condition of their seeds. The non-encased condition of their seeds contrasts with the seeds and ovules of flowering plants (angiosperms), which are enclosed within an ovary. Gymnosperm seeds develop either on the surface of scales or leaves, which are often modified to form cones, or on their own as in yew, Torreya, and Ginkgo.

<i>Agathis</i> Genus of conifers in the kauri family Araucariaceae

Agathis, commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees, native to Australasia and Southeast Asia. It is one of three extant genera in the family Araucariaceae, alongside Wollemia and Araucaria. Its leaves are much broader than most conifers. Kauri gum is commercially harvested from New Zealand kauri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Podocarpaceae</span> Family of conifers 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. It contains 19 genera if Phyllocladus is included and Manoao and Sundacarpus are recognized. The family achieved its maximum diversity in the Cenozoic, making the Podocarpaceae family one of the most diverse in the southern hemisphere.

<i>Phyllocladus</i> Genus of plants

Phyllocladus, the celery pines, is a small genus of conifers, now usually placed in the family Podocarpaceae.Species occur mainly in New Zealand, Tasmania, and Malesia in the Southern Hemisphere, though P. hypophyllus ranges into the Philippines, a short way north of the equator.

<i>Podocarpus</i> Genus of conifers in the family Podocarpaceae

Podocarpus is a genus of conifers, the most numerous and widely distributed of the podocarp family, the Podocarpaceae. Podocarpus species are evergreen shrubs or trees, usually from 1 to 25 m tall, known to reach 40 m (130 ft) at times. The cones have two to five fused cone scales, which form a fleshy, berry-like, brightly coloured receptacle at maturity. The fleshy cones attract birds, which then eat the cones and disperse the seeds in their droppings. About 97 to 107 species are placed in the genus depending on the circumscription of the species.

<i>Nageia</i> Genus of conifers in the family Podocarpaceae

Nageia is a genus of conifers belonging to the podocarp family Podocarpaceae. Nageia includes evergreen shrubs and trees, from one to 54 meters in height. A 2009 treatment of the genus recognized five species. Some authors consider Nageia formosensis to be a separate species from Nageia nagi, thus recognizing six species. The podocarp genera have been reshuffled by various botanists. Most recently, several species formerly classed as Nageia were moved to the new genus Retrophyllum, while Nageia falcata and Nageia mannii were moved to the new genus Afrocarpus.

<i>Prumnopitys</i> Genus of conifers

Prumnopitys is a genus of conifers belonging to the family Podocarpaceae. The nine recognized species of Prumnopitys are densely branched, dioecious evergreen trees up to 40 metres in height.

<i>Dacrydium</i> Genus of conifers

Dacrydium is a genus of conifers belonging to the podocarp family Podocarpaceae. Sixteen species of evergreen dioecious trees and shrubs are presently recognized. The genus was first described by Solander in 1786, and formerly included many more species, which were divided into sections A, B, and C by Florin in 1931. The revisions of de Laubenfels and Quinn, reclassified the former section A as the new genus Falcatifolium, divided Section C into new genera Lepidothamnus, Lagarostrobos and Halocarpus, and retained Section B as genus Dacrydium.

<i>Dacrycarpus</i> Genus of conifers

Dacrycarpus is a genus of conifers belonging to the family Podocarpaceae. The genus includes nine species of dioecious evergreen trees and shrubs to 55–60 metres (180–197 ft) in height.

<i>Halocarpus</i> Genus of conifers

Halocarpus is a genus of conifers of the family Podocarpaceae. The genus includes three closely related species of evergreen trees and shrubs, all endemic to New Zealand.

<i>Lepidothamnus</i> Genus of conifers

Lepidothamnus is a genus of conifers belonging to the podocarp family Podocarpaceae. The genus includes three species of dioecious or monoecious evergreen trees and shrubs, and creepers. L. intermedius and L. laxifolius are native to New Zealand. L. fonkii is native to the Magellanic subpolar forests ecoregion of southern Argentina and Chile, where it grows as a low shrub or creeper in moorlands and bogs.

<i>Actinostrobus</i> Genus of conifers

Actinostrobus is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae. Common names include cypress, sandplain-cypress and cypress-pine, the last of these shared by the closely related genus Callitris.

<i>Widdringtonia</i> Genus of conifers

Widdringtonia is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae. The name was Austrian botanist Stephan Endlicher's way of honouring an early expert on the coniferous forests of Spain, Capt. Samuel Edward Widdrington (1787–1856). There are four species, all native to southern Africa, where they are known as cedars or African cypresses.

<i>Athrotaxis</i> Genus of conifers

Athrotaxis is a genus of two to three species of conifers in the cypress family, Cupressaceae. The genus is endemic to western Tasmania, where they grow in high-elevation temperate rainforests.

<i>Retrophyllum</i> Genus of conifers

Retrophyllum is a genus of conifers in the family Podocarpaceae. It contains five generally recognized extant species with a disjunct distribution in the Southern Hemisphere, found in Papuasia and also in South America. Retrophyllum are evergreen trees typically occurring in tropical rainforests and cloud forests.

<i>Amentotaxus</i> Genus of conifers

Amentotaxus is a genus of conifers (catkin-yews) comprising five species, treated in either the Cephalotaxaceae, or in the Taxaceae when that family is considered in a broad sense. The genus is endemic to subtropical Southeast Asia, from Taiwan west across southern China to Assam in the eastern Himalaya, and south to Vietnam. The species are evergreen shrubs and small trees reaching 2–15 m tall.

<i>Afrocarpus falcatus</i> Species of conifer

Afrocarpus 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, Afrikaans: outeniekwageelhout, kalander, Sotho: mogôbagôba, Xhosa: umkhoba and Zulu: umsonti. 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.

<i>Afrocarpus gracilior</i> Species of conifer

Afrocarpus gracilior is a species of coniferous tree in the family Podocarpaceae known as benet in Marakwet and East African yellowwood, African fern tree, or bastard yellowwood in English

<i>Retrophyllum rospigliosii</i> Species of conifer

Retrophyllum rospigliosii is a species of conifer in the family Podocarpaceae. It is a large evergreen tree native to the montane rainforests of Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia in South America.

Retrophyllum vitiense is a species of conifer in the family Podocarpaceae. It is a large evergreen rainforest emergent tree native to Fiji, Vanuatu, and the Santa Cruz Islands.

References

  1. ↑ Christopher N. Page. 1989. "New and maintained genera in the conifer families Podocarpaceae and Pinaceae". Notes of the Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh 45(2): 377-395.
  2. 1 2 James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. Conifers of the World. Timber Press: Portland, OR, USA. ISBN   978-0-88192-974-4.
  3. ↑ Knopf; Schulze; Little; Stützel; Stevenson (2012). "Relationships within Podocarpaceae based on DNA sequence, anatomical, morphological, and biogeographical data". Cladistics. 28 (3): 271–299. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-0031.2011.00381.x . PMID   34872191. S2CID   86581015.
  4. ↑ Stull, Gregory W.; Qu, Xiao-Jian; Parins-Fukuchi, Caroline; Yang, Ying-Ying; Yang, Jun-Bo; Yang, Zhi-Yun; Hu, Yi; Ma, Hong; Soltis, Pamela S.; Soltis, Douglas E.; Li, De-Zhu; Smith, Stephen A.; Yi, Ting-Shuang; et al. (2021). "Gene duplications and phylogenomic conflict underlie major pulses of phenotypic evolution in gymnosperms". Nature Plants. 7 (8): 1015–1025. Bibcode:2021NatPl...7.1015S. bioRxiv   10.1101/2021.03.13.435279 . doi:10.1038/s41477-021-00964-4. PMID   34282286. S2CID   232282918.
  5. ↑ Stull, Gregory W.; et al. (2021). "main.dated.supermatrix.tree.T9.tre". Figshare. doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.14547354.v1.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Earle, Christopher J. (2012). "Afrocarpus". The Gymnosperm Database, conifers.org. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  7. ↑ Earle, Christopher J. (2015). "Afrocarpus falcatus". The Gymnosperm Database, conifers.org. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Farjon, Aljos (2010). A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Leiden: Brill. p. 136. ISBN   9789004177185.
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