Afrocarpus is a genus of conifer of the family Podocarpaceae. Five species are recognized. They are evergreen trees native to Africa. Afrocarpus was designated a genus in 1989, when several species formerly classified in Podocarpus and Nageia were reclassified.

Taxonomy

Afrocarpus was originally erected in 1948 as a section of the genus Podocarpus, following a review of the latter by botanists John Theodore Buchholz and Netta Elizabeth Gray. It was raised to genus status by Christopher Nigel Page in 1989, a move well supported by more recent studies. In a 2009 treatment of the genus, only two species were recognized; A. dawei, A. gracilior, and A. usambarensis were sunk into A. falcatus. The reason for this merger was that "variation across the group appears to be essentially continuous".

Studies based on anatomical, biogeographical, morphological, and DNA evidence suggest the following relationships:

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! colspan=1 |Knopf 2012

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Species

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! Image !! Scientific name !! Common name !! Distribution !! Description

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| || Afrocarpus dawei ||||Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and the Congo ||Native to the highlands of east Africa

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|120px || Afrocarpus falcatus ||common yellowwood, bastard yellowwood, outeniqua yellowwood, African fern pine, weeping yew||South Africa, Swellendam District of Western Cape Province to Limpopo Province, and into southern Mozambique ||Commonly known as the Outeniqua yellowwood, is a tall tree, generally 10–25 m high, but growing up to 60 m. It is native to montane forests

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|120px || Afrocarpus gracilior || East African yellowwood||Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda ||Used in gardens as a tree, hedge, screen, or espalier; generally, it is sold as Podocarpus gracilior.

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|120px || Afrocarpus mannii ||Pinheiro de São Tomé (lit. São Tomé pine)||São Tomé Island in the Gulf of Guinea ||

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| || Afrocarpus usambarensis ||Usambara yellowwood||Burundi, Rwanda, the Congo, and Lushoto and Mbulu districts of Tanzania. ||

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Description

Afrocarpus are evergreen trees. The individuals of the largest species, Afrocarpus falcatus, may reach a height of 60 meters. The thin bark often peels with scale-like plates.

The leaves are simple and flat. The phyllotaxis or leaf arrangement is usually spiral but may be opposite on young plants.

</references>

  • Afrocarpus At: Podocarpaceae At: The Gymnosperm Database
  • PROTA4U, a new interactive webdatabase on plants used by people in tropical Africa.