Afrocarpus usambarensis
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| Afrocarpus usambarensis | ||||||||||||
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Afrocarpus usambarensis is a plant from the genus of afrocarpus ( Afrocarpus ) in the family of podocarpaceae (Podocarpaceae). It isnative toeast central Africa.
description
Vegetative characteristics
Afrocarpus usambarensis grows as an evergreen tree that can reach heights of up to 30 meters and diameters of up to 2 meters at chest height . When the trees are fully grown, the trunk turns into a dome-like crown . The dark brown trunk bark turns gray with age and flakes off in small scales. The furrowed branches have a more or less square cross-section.
Afrocarpus usambarensis is leafy. The leaves of young plants usually grow oppositely arranged on the branches, are linear-lanceolate with a length of up to 13 centimeters and a width of 0.4 to 0.7 centimeters and have a finely pointed upper end. Fully grown trees have spirally arranged, gray-green leaves which are 3 to 5 centimeters long and 0.2 to 0.4 centimeters wide and are smaller than those of young trees. These leaves have a conspicuous midrib and a pointed tip on both the top and bottom.
Generative characteristics
Afrocarpus usambarensis is dioeciously segregated ( diocesan ). The kitten-like male cones are 1 to 2 centimeters long and 0.25 to 0.35 millimeters thick. The spirally arranged triangular-diamond-shaped microsporophylls are about 0.8 millimeters in size and each carry two spherical pollen sacs . The seed cones grow individually on scaly branches on the leaf axils. The individual seed is surrounded by a fleshy epimatium , which is 2.3 to 3 centimeters long and changes color from green to yellowish at maturity. The seed is spherical with a length of 2 to 2.5 centimeters. The hard seed coat is 4 to 6 millimeters thick.
Occurrence and endangerment
The natural range of Afrocarpus usambarensis in tropical Africa includes Kenya and Tanzania and possibly also Burundi , Rwanda and Uganda . It thrives, for example, in the Usambara Mountains as well as the Chyulu Hills and on Kilimanjaro .
Afrocarpus usambarensis thrives at altitudes from 1500 to over 3000 meters. It grows in high-altitude evergreen rainforests and dry forests . In rainforests Afrocarpus usambarensis is mostly found in association with Ocotea usambarensis and Podocarpus milanjianus , while species of the genera figs ( Ficus spec.) And olive trees ( Olea spec.) Predominate in dry forests . Other species associated with Afrocarpus usambarensis are Bridelia micrantha , Calodendrum capense and Syzygium cordatum .
In 2011, Afrocarpus usambarensis was classified as “critically endangered” on the IUCN's Red List of Endangered Species . Illegal felling and forest fires are named as the main sources of risk. The total stock is seen as declining.
Systematics
It was first described as Podocarpus usambarensis in 1903 by Robert Knud Friedrich Pilger in Das Pflanzenreich , Volume 5, page 70. The specific epithet usambarensis refers to the Usambara Mountains in Tanzania. The type material of this kind was deposited with the collective number Holst 2467 with the information: "TANZANIA: Usambara Mts., Mtai". Christopher Nigel Page transferred this species to the genus Afrocarpus in Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh , Volume 45, Page 384 in 1988 . Another synonym for Afrocarpus usambarensis (Pilg.) CNPage is Nageia mannii var. Usambarensis (Pilg.) Syllable.
use
The yellow and strong wood of Afrocarpus usambarensis is considered to be of high quality. It is suitable for building and making furniture.
swell
- Christopher J. Earle: Afrocarpus usambarensis. In: The Gymnosperm Database. www.conifers.org, February 28, 2019, accessed on May 20, 2019 (English).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Christopher J. Earle: Afrocarpus usambarensis. In: The Gymnosperm Database. www.conifers.org, February 28, 2019, accessed on May 20, 2019 (English).
- ↑ a b Afrocarpus usambarensis in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
- ↑ a b c d e Afrocarpus usambarensis in the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species 2019.1. Listed by: A. Farjon, 2011. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
- ↑ a b Afrocarpus usambarensis at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Retrieved May 20, 2019.