Afrocarpus mannii
Pinheiro de São Tomé [Portuguese].
Syn: Podocarpus mannii Hook. f. 1864; Nageia mannii (Hook. f.) Kuntze 1891; Decussocarpus mannii (Hook. f.) de Laub. 1969 (Farjon 1998).
Trees to 15 m tall but krummholz in the summit area, with a broad crown. Bark undescribed. Twigs ridged, more or less quadrangular. Foliage sparse. Juvenile leaves spirally arranged, linear-lanceolate, up to 16 cm long × 4-8 mm, finely pointed. Adult leaves also spirally arranged, lanceolate, 3-8 cm × 3-7 mm, with a conspicuous midrib on the lower side and an obscure midrib on the upper side; apex acute to obtuse. Pollen cones solitary, catkin-like, 10-20 × 2-3 mm, microsporophylls broadly triangular, 1 mm across, each with two pollen sacs. Seed cones on small scaly twigs axillary to foliage leaves, with a 20-30 mm long fleshy pear-shaped epimatium enclosing a single obovoid seed 16-25 mm long with a 4-5 mm thick, hard seed coat (Farjon 2010). See García Esteban et al. (2004) for a detailed characterization of the wood anatomy.
São Tomé and Príncipe. Endemic on the volcano Pico de São Tomé at elevations from ca. 1,450 m to the summit at 2,142 m; habitat is hygh montane cloud forest (Farjon 2010).
Estimated distribution: shows elevations above 1,450 m on the Pico de São Tomé.
The IUCN classifies this taxon as "vulnerable." The population is characterised by an acute restriction in its area of occupancy (typically less than 100 km2) or in the number of locations (typically less than five). It is prone to the effects of human activities (or stochastic events whose impact is increased by human activities) within a very short period of time in an unforeseeable future, and is thus capable of becoming Critically Endangered or even Extinct in a very short period. This analysis dates to 1998 and needs to be updated. Farjon (2010) adds that deforestation near its lower range limits is the principal threat to the species.
Zone 10 (cold hardiness limit between -1°C and +4.4°C) (Bannister and Neuner 2001).
No data as of 2023.02.21.
Used for construction timber, although rarely, as trees of suitable size have become scarce. Has been planted as a canopy tree, windbreak, or for other purposes in rural areas of Cameroon, Ivory Coast, and probably elsewhere in West Africa (Farjon 2010).
No data as of 2023.02.21.
The epithet mannii remembers Georg Mann, who collected the type specimen.
Conifer Specialist Group. 1998. Afrocarpus mannii. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.3. https://www.iucnredlist.org, accessed 2010.10.04.
The PROTA database account for this species (accessed 2019.02.28). PROTA accounts are focused on commercial forest uses in Africa, and typically include photographs, drawings, names, distribution, and a variety of information relevant to management of the species.
The species account at Threatened Conifers of the World.
Last Modified 2024-11-27
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