African pencil cedar  (Juniperus procera)

Description

The African pencil cedar, the tallest of all juniper species in the world (2), acquired its name from its extensive use in the manufacturing of pencils (2). The trunk is straight and sharply tapered, covered with bark varying in colour from pale brown to reddish brown (3). Young African pencil cedars have needle-like leaves, one to two centimetres long, and as the plant ages the foliage gradually changes to the scale-like adult leaves, which are light-green or yellowish-green and only up to six millimetres long (3) (4). Male African pencil cedars bear numerous, tiny male cones at the ends of branches. These greenish to orangey-brown structures are composed of scales, each containing two to three pollen sacs. Female plants bear the female cones; reddish-brown to blue-black, berry-like structures made of fleshy scales, each one containing a single ovule (3).

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