Big Trees

These pics of old trees in South Africa are for meggie, from NSW, ( blog, life's free treats), who like old trees, among other things.

This big Yellowwood grew ( and may still be there) in the Knysna forests on the southern coast of SA. The unique old-growth forests have been preserved as a National Park. Until the late 20th century a few remnant elephants were occasinally seen in the forest; originally they were abundant around that part, but the inevitable hunter's rifles nearly wiped them out. A successful breeding population has been established at the Addo Elephant Park near Port Elizabeth. The Big Tree is a Podocarpus Falcatus, common name Outeniqua Yellowwood. The Timber is a highly-prized material for furniture-making, straight-grained and easily worked. The cutting of trees for new timber is now strictly controlled, but collectors scour the secondhand sales-rooms and antique dealers for furniture made of this valuable wood.





I took the photos in ca 1973; one couldn't get far back to take the whole tree, so I took the base & crown separately. The information board at the base reads;

PODOCARPUS FALCATUS.
Outenqua Yellowwod
Common Yellowwood.
Total Height: 150 ft
Crown Spread: 90 ft
Circumference of bole: 22ft
Length of bole: 71 ft
Contents of bole: 1700 cu ft
Esimated age; 600 years.

The second tree is in the Eastern Cape town of Uitenhage; I took it in 2008. It is in the garden of a historic house, but I am not sure of the history of either the house or the tree -- it was just snapped in passing. It could well be a Wild Fig, a tree which has an enormous spread, and small figs growing out from the stems. It is probably very old, as Uitenhage was established in the days of the Dutch Cape Colony, and contains some historic buildings. It's present claim to fame is the manufacture of Volkswagen and Audi cars, and Goodyear tires.