| 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 metres in height with the
base of the trunk sometimes up to 3 metres 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-coloured to grey 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 grey 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 colour of a cherry, develops.
Sources:
BROWNELL, F.G., Nasionale en
Provinsiale Simbole. 1993. Johannesburg: Chris van
Rensburg Publications. |
