East African Yellowwood, Common Yellow Wood
Afrocarpus falcatus

Family: Podocarpaceae

What it is like

A large evergreen tree. It grows to 30 m tall. Often in cultivation it is 15 m high. The trunk is tall and straight. The crown is spreading and rounded. The bark is light brown tinged grey. It peels in fine plates. The leaves are spirally arranged around the stem. The leaves are alternate and simple. They are narrow and sickle shaped. They are 3-5 cm long by 3-5 mm wide. Trees are separately male and female. It has fleshy male and female cones carried on separate trees. The male cones are in the axils of leaves and 10 mm long by 3 mm wide. The female cones do not have a fleshy receptacle. The fruit are about 18 mm across. The seed are round and 15 mm across. They are yellow.

There are about 6 Afrocarpus species. They occur in Africa.

Where it is found

It is a subtropical plant. It grows in mountain forest. It grows between 1,250-2,700 m above sea level. It can grow in arid places. It suits hardiness zones 9-11. Hobart Botanical gardens. Melbourne Botanical gardens. Wittunga Botanical Gardens. Arboretum Tasmania.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Angola, Asia, Australia, Burundi, Central Africa, Congo DR, East Africa, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Southern Africa, St Helena, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tasmania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How it is used for food

An edible oil is extracted from the seeds. The ripe fruit is eaten. They are resinous.

Edible parts

Fruit, seeds, seeds - oil

How it is grown

Plants can be grown from fresh seed. The fleshy layer is removed. The fresh cones are collected and the flesh removed. The seed are sown into nursery bags. Seeds germinate erratically and can take 6 months. Seedlings need to be transplanted carefully to protect the taproot.

It is slow growing.

Its other names

Local names

Birbirsa, Birbissa, Dagucho, Outeniqua yellowwood, Zigba

Synonyms

Decussocarpus falcatus (Thunb.) de Laub.; Decussocarpus gracilior (Pilg.) de Laub.; Nageia falcata (Thunb.) Kuntze; Podocarpus falcatus (Thunb.) R. Br. ex Mirb.; Podocarpus gracilior Pilg.; Podocarpus gracillimus Stapf; Taxus falcata Thunb.