Podocarpus elongatus

Cultivation Details

Podocarpus elongatus is able to withstand short-lived, light frosts, tolerating temperatures down to around -1°c and +4.4°c^[1]. It grows in a area where most rain falls in the cooler part of the year^[1]. The plant is found mainly on sandy and rocky soils in the wild^{[1, 2]} In the Western Cape its habitat contacts with fire-prone vegetation types such as fynbos and as a consequence individual trees are frequently burnt. Resprouting from the base, they then develop into broad spreading shrubs or bushes, while only individuals that are protected from fire, such as those growing in a deep ravine, can develop into monopodial trees of some size^[2]. In the northeastern part of its scattered range it is usually a component of moist evergreen forest and grows more often into a tree^[2]. It is rare in cultivation, but a few cultivars have been recorded^[2]. The leaves show adaptations to surviving in a dry environment - they have a thick cuticle, a layer of wax covering the leaves, resin canals, sunken stomata and conspicuous supporting tissue^[3]. Podocarpus elongatus has adapted to growing beside rivers and streams which are notoriously unstable - riverside plants are often partially up-rooted, knocked over or damaged by floods or rocks carried in the water, washed downstream when river banks subside etc. As a result it has evolved a survival strategy that the other southern African yellowwoods have not - it has the ability to resprout from epicormic buds i.e. Buds on the trunk of the tree. In an undamaged tree with a full canopy these buds lie dormant, but if a tree falls or is knocked over or the crown is damaged and the trunks are exposed to the heat and light of the sun they spring to life sending out shoots that grow into branches that eventually repair the damage^[3]. Species in this genus are generally slow-growing^[2]. A dioecious species; both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required.