Podocarpus milanjianus

Podocarpus milanjianus is a species of conifer in the family Podocarpaceae. It is native to the highlands and mountains of tropical Africa.

Podocarpus milanjianus
Podocarpus milanjanus in Mount Elgon National Park, Kenya
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Gymnosperms
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Araucariales
Family: Podocarpaceae
Genus: Podocarpus
Species:
P. milanjianus
Binomial name
Podocarpus milanjianus
Rendle

Description

Podocarpus milanjianus is an evergreen tree which can grow slowly up to 35 meters in height, and up to 40 meters in favorable conditions. It is generally conical in form, with a straight cylindrical trunk. The trunk of mature trees can range from 150 to 300 cm in diameter, and unbranched for the first 10 to 20 meters from the ground. Some trees have a buttressed base. The leaves are narrow, glossy, and bright green.[2]

The trees are dioecious, and both male and female trees are required to produce fruit and seeds.[2]

Habitat and range

Podocarpus milanjianus is the most widespread African podocarp.[2] It is found in Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.[1]

It grows in evergreen tropical montane rainforests, cloud forests, and high-elevation dwarf forests, between 900 and 3,250 meters elevation.[2]

The tree is widespread and locally plentiful, and is rated "least concern" in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.[1]

Relationship to Podocarpus latifolius

Podocarpus milanjianus is closely related to Podocarpus latifolius. Whether they are a single or two separate species is not settled. Some authorities treat the South African populations as Podocarpus latifolius, and those elsewhere in Africa as Podocarpus milanjianus. Others treat them as a single species, Podocarpus latifolius.[2]

A 2020 study sampled DNA from Podocarpus latifolius and Podocarpus milanjianus trees, gathered from 88 sites across Africa. They concluded that all populations sampled constituted a single species: "As South African samples (P. latifolius) did not form a clade separated from the other clades (P. milanjianus), we confirm that the two taxa can be considered as synonyms." The authors concluded that the species originated in East Africa. The western populations, in the highlands of Cameroon and Nigeria and in the Angolan highlands, diverged from the other populations around 300,000 years ago, and the species reached its current distribution pattern about 200,000 years ago.[3]

Uses

Podocarpus milanjianus is valued as a timber tree, both commercially and artisanally. It produces straight pale yellow timber, which is fine-grained and easily sawn and worked.[2]

The tree is used to provide shade in tea, coffee, cocoa, and banana plantations, in reforestation projects, and as a roadside or ornamental tree.[2]

Parts of the tree have minor local uses as food (the fleshy receptacles at the seed base) or medicine (bark or leaves).[2]

References
  1. Farjon, A. (2013). "Podocarpus milanjianus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T42520A2984512. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42520A2984512.en. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  2. Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. Accessed 8 March 2022. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Podocarpus+milanjianus>
  3. Jérémy Migliore, Anne-Marie Lézine, Olivier J Hardy, The recent colonization history of the most widespread Podocarpus tree species in Afromontane forests, Annals of Botany, Volume 126, Issue 1, 29 June 2020, Pages 73–83, https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaa049
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