Real Yellowwood
 The yellowwood family is primeval and has
been present in South 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 Limpopo.
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. The leaves are
strap-shaped, 25–40 mm long on mature trees, larger, to 100 mm long,
on vigorous young trees, and 6–12 mm broad, with a bluntly pointed
tip.
It is a slow-growing tree. The wood is hard, similar to yew wood, used
for furniture, panelling, etc. Due to past over-exploitation, little is
now cut. |
