Product Code Database
Widdringtonia is a genus of in the Cupressaceae (Cupressaceae family). The name was Austrian botanist Stephan Endlicher's way of honouring an early expert on the coniferous forests of Spain, Capt. Samuel Edward Widdrington (1787–1856). There are four species, all native to southern Africa, where they are known as cedars or African cypresses.
The plants are dioecious. The small male cones grow at the ends of twigs. The scales have no stalks. They grow into an upward, decreasing beak with two to six pollen sacs at the base of the cone.
The female cones are small and stalkless and grow in short spikes on the branches. The scales grow in two opposite rows that spread at the base during pollination. They then close into a corky, leathery cone with five or more ovules at the base of each scale. The cones become woody as they mature.
The cones mostly remain closed on the trees for many years, opening only after being scorched by a wildfire; this then releases the to grow on the newly cleared burnt ground. They open at four very thick valves that correspond to the four scales. Each cone produces few seeds. They are wing with hard test and two cotyledons.
In W. whytei the cones open soon after maturity to shed the seed without fire; this species is more sensitive to fire and only grows in moister situations where it is protected from fire. The best adapted to fire is W. nodiflora, which has the ability to re-grow from the roots, as well as by seed.
| Widespread, southern Malawi south to Western Cape Province, South Africa. |
| Endemic, Baviaanskloof and Kouga Mountains (west of Port Elizabeth), Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. |
| Endemism to Cederberg (northeast of Cape Town), Western Cape Province, South Africa. |
| Endemic, Mulanje Massif, Malawi. |
The closest relatives of Widdringtonia are Callitris and Actinostrobus from Australia, which differ in their cones and leaves being in whorls of three, not opposite pairs.
|
|
