Podocarpus latifolius (Real yellowwood)

Opregte geelhout [Afrikaans]; umSonti, umKhoba, umGeya [Xhosa, Zulu. The term umGeya is used also for the Outeniqua yellowwood as well as for the giraffe!]; Monyaunyau, Mogobagoba [North Sotho]; Muhovho-hovho [Venda]

Life > eukaryotes > Archaeoplastida > Chloroplastida > Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants) > Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants) > Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Gymnospermae > Coniferophyta > Podocarpaceae > Genus: Podocarpus

Podocarpus latifolius with male cones, in Arderne Gardens, Cape Town. [photo H. Robertson, Iziko ©]
Podocarpus latifolius trunk; Outeniqua Hiking Trail, December 2008. [photo H. Robertson ©]	Leaves of Podocarpus latifolius: upperside (3 on left) and underside (2 on right); Outeniqua Hiking Trail, December 2008. [photo H. Robertson ©]

Distribution and habitat

Occurs in Afromontane and Coastal forests in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe extending into adjacent areas of Mozambique.

Uses

• The pale-yellow, fine-grained wood is used mainly for making furniture. It becomes a deaper yellow colour with age. In earlier times it was also used for flooring and roof beams and can still be seen in some of the old Cape homesteads. The wood often has a spiral grain that can make it warp although proper seasoning helps to prevent this from happening. It was also used previously for railway sleepers although being a soft wood, it rots easily in contact with the soil - creosoting the wood helped to prevent such deterioration. According to Palmer and Pitman (1972), Real yellowwood has yielded more timber than any other indigenous tree [in South Africa] although today there is much more careful control over exploitation of this tree.
• Grown as a garden ornamental tree.

References

• Palgrave, K.C. and Palgrave, M.C. 2002. Trees of Southern Africa. 3rd Edition. Struik Publishers, Cape Town.
• Palmer, E. and Pitman, N. 1972. Trees of Southern Africa covering all known indigenous species in the Republic of South Africa, South-West Africa, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. Volume 1. A.A. Balkema, Cape Town.
• van Wyk, B. and van Wyk, P. 1997. Field Guide to Trees of Southern Africa. Struik Publishers, Cape Town.

Text by Hamish Robertson