Podocarpus henkelii

Scientific name: Podocarpus henkelii Stapf ex Dallimore & B.D.Jackson 1923

Synonyms: Podocarpus ensiculus Melville, Podocarpus henkelii subsp. ensiculus (Melville) Silba

Common names: Henkel yellowwood, East Griqualand yellowwood, Natal yellowwood, Falcate yellowwood

Description

Tree to 30(-35) m tall, with trunk to 1.4(-1.9) m in diameter. Bark shaggy, shallowly furrowed, greenish tan to gray. Crown conical when young, becoming roundly cylindrical with age, with numerous, gently ascending, slender branches upturned at the ends and bearing drooping foliage. Twigs pale green, shallowly grooved between the moderately elongated, attached leaf bases. Resting buds nearly spherical, with tightly overlapping bud scales. Leaves sometimes nearly in pairs, more crowded near the ends of the twigs, drooping, shiny dark green, (6-)9-15(-21) cm long, (3-)6-10(-13) mm wide. Blades distinctly widest near the middle or below, often slightly curved to one side, tapering gradually to the long-pointed tip and more abruptly to the very short petiole. Midrib slightly protruding above and strongly so beneath, with three resin canals beneath the midrib and two at the outer corners of the leaf. Pollen cones (1.2-)1.5-2.5 cm long (to 4.5 cm after the pollen is shed) and 4-6(8) mm wide, one to five directly in the axils of the leaves or at the tip of a very short, leafless stalk less than 5 mm long. Pollen scales with a bluntly triangular, slightly toothed tip 0.5-1 mm long and about 1 mm wide. Seed cones on a short, leafless stalk to 6 mm long, without basal bracteoles, the reproductive part with two to four unequal bracts, these and the axis becoming very slightly swollen and leathery, 6-8 mm long by 4-6 mm thick. Fertile seed scales one (or two), the combined seed coat and epimatium swollen and resinous but rather tough and leathery, olive green with a thin waxy coating, (12-)15-25(-35) mm long by (10-)15-20(-28) mm thick, with a very week crest along one side.

The species name honors John Henkel (1871 - 1962), a South African forest administrator and author of an influential book, The Woody Plants of Natal and Zululand, who recognized its distinctness.

Discontinuous in eastern and southern Africa, in northern Malawi and western Tanzania and in Natal and adjacent eastern Cape province of South Africa. Montane or coastal rain forests; (100-)1,300-2,000 m.

Conservation Status

Red List Category & Criteria: Endangered

In the previous assessment (1998) this species was presumably assessed as Least Concern on the grounds of its wide distribution. Evaluation of available herbarium collections (many were misidentified and belong to other taxa) has made it clear that Podocarpus henkelii is rare and occurs in a few widely disjunct locations; the area of occupancy is estimated to be about 256 km² and the population is severely fragmented. Outside South Africa, and especially in Tanzania, it is inferred to be in decline due to over-exploitation and deforestation, both of which are ongoing in the area where it has been collected. This species appears to meet the criterion for Endangered. In South Africa this species is treated as endemic to South Africa and is not listed as threatened.

The global population of this species is extremely fragmented (disjunct) according to the known and verified herbarium collections and occurs in five widely separated locations. One of these is in the eastern part of Tanzania where podocarps are intensively logged (see assessment of Afrocarpus usambarensis). In South Africa the subpopulation is more stable but the species is reported to be rare. The largest concentrations of Podocarpus henkelii in South Africa are found in the areas between Mt. Ayliff, Kokstad and Harding. Information about trends in the two known locations in Malawi and Zimbabwe is lacking.

Podocarpus henkelii is a tree that occurs in montane evergreen rainforest, often on steep, rocky slopes, at altitudes between 1,300 m and 2,000 m a.s.l., it is also present in coastal forests near sea level in Eastern Cape Province (where it is rare) and KwaZulu-Natal. Here it may be associated with Afrocarpus falcatus, both are in these forests as emergents above a canopy of angiosperm trees. In Tanzania it occurs as a codominant in Ocotea-Podocarpus forest with a canopy 30-40 m tall and both Afrocarpus usambarensis and Podocarpus milanjianus are often also present as canopy trees

Unsustainable logging poses the major threat to this species, especially in Tanzania. Deforestation is also an issue in parts of its range, especially where it occurs in montane rainforest.

This species is a valuable timber tree but not common enough to be of major economic importance. The wood is used for construction, carpentry and joinery, as well as furniture making. In South Africa and Zimbabwe it is commonly planted as an ornamental tree; outside the indigenous region of the species it is often planted in southern California. It is also in cultivation in England and Wales and young trees are offered to the trade from British nurseries.

In South Africa this species occurs in a few small protected areas; in Malawi it occurs in Mount Mulanje National Park. It is a protected species in South Africa.

Cultivars: -

References

Farjon, A. (2010). A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.
Eckenwalder, J.E. (2009) Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference. Timber Press, Portland.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Cambridge, UK /Gland, Switzerland

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