Yellowwood

Podocarpus falcatus
UMSONTI
OUTENIEKWAGEELHOUT

A tall evergreen tree with sharply pointed dark green leathery leaves and thin smooth bark. The fleshy, edible, yellow fruits take a year to ripen. The Yellowwood is a protected tree.

The Outeniqua yellowwood is the ‘Big Tree’ in the Knysna forest, reaching up to 60 m in height. Yellowwoods occur from the southern Cape to the Limpopo and also into Mozambique.
The wood is valuable and its growth rate and properties compare favourably to the exotic pine tree. It makes magnificent furniture and is highly sought after for boat-building, floorboards and roof beams. The bark is used for tanning leather and the sap is used to aid chest complaints.

Archaeologically, the resin of the tree was combined with other ingredients to glue arrow-heads to shafts for hunting weapons. When heated to a certain temperature the adhesive becomes brittle and will break under pressure, leaving a poisoned arrow-tip in the wounded animal.

The words Podos means foot, and karpos means fruit (Greek), alluding to the fruits that are produced on fleshy stalks.