Performance of Podocarpus falcatus Provenances in South Africa

Abstract

SYNOPSIS Podocarpus falcatus, a canopy tree of the mixed evergreen forests in South Africa, is planted in riparian zones in commercial forestry areas. In 1982 provenance trials were initiated to evaluate the performance of 11 provenances in three experimental sites: De Hoek in the northeastern Transvaal; Frankfort in the eastern Transvaal; and Witfontein in the southern Cape. Only five provenances were planted in all three sites. The great variation in fruit and seed mass could not be related to latitudinal or locality differences of origin of the provenances. Germination capacity ranged between 3 and 94%, but the differences were related to periodically unsuitable environmental conditions during fertilisation of the ovule rather than genetic variation. For most provenances the germination rate over time followed the normal pattern of a sharp increase in germination during October, about 50 weeks after sowing. However, seed from the sub tropical Zululand coast germinated after 10 weeks and continued to ge...