Widdringtonia whytei
Encyclopedia
Widdringtonia whytei (Mulanje Cypress) is a species of Widdringtonia
native to Malawi
, where it is endemic to the Mulanje Massif
at altitudes of 1,830-2,550 m. It has become endangered as a result of over-harvesting for its wood, and an increase in the frequency of wildfire
s due to human activity.
It is a large evergreen
tree
growing to 40-50 m tall. The leaves
are scale-like, 1.5-3.5 mm long and 1-1.5 mm broad on small shoots, up to 10 mm long on strong-growing shoots, and arranged in opposite decussate pairs. The cones
are globose, 1.5-2.2 cm long, with four scales.
It was formerly often called "Mulanje Cedar" but has been renamed Mulanje Cypress to better reflect its botanical relationships.
The species
Widdringtonia nodiflora
is common in South Africa
and Zimbabwe
in its dwarf form which has little more stature that a scrubby bush. It is only on Mulanje
and Mchese Mountain, that a closely related tree form is found, Widdringtonia whytei, commonly known as Mulanje Cedarwood, but renamed “Mulanje Cypress” by the University of the Witwatersrand
, to better reflect its botanical relationships.
The Widdringtonia whytei is a large evergreen tree, growing up to 40-50m tall. The leaves
are scale-like, 1.5-3.5 mm long and 1-1.5 mm broad on small shoots, up to 10 mm long on strong-growing shoots, and arranged in opposite decussate pairs. The cones
are globose, 1.5-2.2 cm long, with four scales.
On these mountains the tree is limited to altitudes between 1830 and 2550m, and it is normally confined to hollows and valleys where the topography provides some protection from fire. Most commonly it occurs as small woodlands amongst rolling tussocky grassland slopes, between craggy, granite, rock faces.
The timber is pale red, straight grained and pleaseantly fragrant. Its major qualities are that it works well and is extremely durable, being resistant to attacks from termites, wood boring insects and fungi. For these reasons the timber
achieved major economic significance during the first three decades of this century, when it was high in demand for developing work. Currently the timber is most used in the making of local arts and crafts, fishing boats for Lake Malawi
, as well as in the construction and decoration of many prestigious buildings.
Due to the high demand for its timber and changing ecological conditions, on the mountain, the tree is under threat of extinction. Mulanje Cedar is a pioneer species
, not a climax species
, this means that it is good at taking advantage of sites which suddenly become free of other competing species but it is not successful in open competition
. So, when fire occurs which destroys the trees in an area of woodland, Mulanje Cedar will normally be the first tree species to re-establish itself. Other species will come in later but because the cedar is relatively fast growing, it will not face much competition for sunlight.
If the area is undisturbed, the Cedar will continue to grow well and other, more shade-tolerant species, will come in and form a dense canopy beneath it. The forest floor will then become dark, and young Cedar, being relatively light demanding, will not flourish. It is only if there is further disturbance in the area which allows a lot of light to the forest floor that significant quantities of Cedar will be able to establish itself. Thus, fire is an essential pre-requisite for dense, even, natural regeneration. The timing between fires is also critical. If fires are too frequent, the young trees will be killed before they can produce seed
; if the fires are too infrequent the trees will die before space is created for their seeds to use. Generally it is said that a fire interval between 100 to 200 years would be ideal. During recent years however, due to the increasing population of subsistence farmers around the base of the mountain, fires spreading up and over the mountain, especially in the dry season, have become more frequent. It is clear that most young trees are being killed before they reach maturity.
The Forestry Department provides the cedar forests with protection from damaging fires. Each year at the beginning of the dry season hundreds of kilometers of firebreaks are hoed clean of vegetation to provide barriers which will impede the advance of fires. In addition early controlled burning is carried out to reduce the build up of combustible material which could otherwise cause very intense and damaging fires later in the dry season. For further safety fire standby gangs equipped with fire fighting equipment are stationed on each of the plateau areas whenever there is a fire hazard.
As well as providing protection from fires the Forestry Department and the Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust
carefully control the use of the trees. Back in the day sawing licenses could be issued by the Forestry Department, but because there was still an extensive amount of illegal pit sawing taking place, the sawing season has been closed since 2007. But of course the pit sawing did not stop. The black market for Cedar wood grew, and has not been stopped, yet. All cedar wood sawn after 2007 is illegal wood, and can be confiscated by Forestry, MMCT and the Malawi Police.
Since 2009 there are also Armed Forestry Groups patrolling the Cedar clusters, to stop the illegal pit sawyers.
But firebreaks and patrols are not the only things done to conserve Malawi’s National Tree. Forestry has established a planting programme to re-populate the Mulanje Cedar(Cypress). In the rainy season 2008/09 there were over 50000 seedlings planted on Mount Mulanje with an estimated survival rate of over 30%. In 2009/10 Forestry plans to plant more than 20000 seedlings, with, hopefully, an even higher survival rate.
But the problem is not solved, yet. Conservation needs to be continued with rising intensity. The Widdringtonia whytei is still listed as “Threatened-Endangered (IUCN 2.3)” in the annual Red List published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). If the conservation work is not continued, the noble Mulanje Cedar, Malawi’s National Tree, will probably extinct in less than 10 years.
Widdringtonia
Widdringtonia is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae . The name was apparently Austrian botanist Stephan Endlicher's way of honouring an early expert on the coniferous forests of Spain, Capt. Samuel Edward Cook or Widdrington...
native to Malawi
Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
, where it is endemic to the Mulanje Massif
Mulanje Massif
The Mulanje Massif, also known as Mount Mulanje, is a large monadnock in southern Malawi near the city of Blantyre, rising sharply from the surrounding plains of Chiradzulu, and the tea-growing Mulanje district...
at altitudes of 1,830-2,550 m. It has become endangered as a result of over-harvesting for its wood, and an increase in the frequency of wildfire
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
s due to human activity.
It is a large evergreen
Evergreen
In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...
tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
growing to 40-50 m tall. The leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are scale-like, 1.5-3.5 mm long and 1-1.5 mm broad on small shoots, up to 10 mm long on strong-growing shoots, and arranged in opposite decussate pairs. The cones
Conifer cone
A cone is an organ on plants in the division Pinophyta that contains the reproductive structures. The familiar woody cone is the female cone, which produces seeds. The male cones, which produce pollen, are usually herbaceous and much less conspicuous even at full maturity...
are globose, 1.5-2.2 cm long, with four scales.
It was formerly often called "Mulanje Cedar" but has been renamed Mulanje Cypress to better reflect its botanical relationships.
The species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
Widdringtonia nodiflora
Widdringtonia nodiflora
Widdringtonia nodiflora is a species of Widdringtonia native to Southern Africa. It usually grows at high altitudes, typically among rocks on mountainsides...
is common in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
in its dwarf form which has little more stature that a scrubby bush. It is only on Mulanje
Mulanje
Mulanje is a town in the Southern Region of Malawi close to the border of Mozambique. It is near the Mulanje Massif.Mulanje is the headquarters of the conservation group, the Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust....
and Mchese Mountain, that a closely related tree form is found, Widdringtonia whytei, commonly known as Mulanje Cedarwood, but renamed “Mulanje Cypress” by the University of the Witwatersrand
University of the Witwatersrand
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg is a South African university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University...
, to better reflect its botanical relationships.
The Widdringtonia whytei is a large evergreen tree, growing up to 40-50m tall. The leaves
Leaves
-History:Vocalist Arnar Gudjonsson was formerly the guitarist with Mower, and he was joined by Hallur Hallsson , Arnar Ólafsson , Bjarni Grímsson , and Andri Ásgrímsson . Late in 2001 they played with Emiliana Torrini and drew early praise from the New York Times...
are scale-like, 1.5-3.5 mm long and 1-1.5 mm broad on small shoots, up to 10 mm long on strong-growing shoots, and arranged in opposite decussate pairs. The cones
Conifer cone
A cone is an organ on plants in the division Pinophyta that contains the reproductive structures. The familiar woody cone is the female cone, which produces seeds. The male cones, which produce pollen, are usually herbaceous and much less conspicuous even at full maturity...
are globose, 1.5-2.2 cm long, with four scales.
On these mountains the tree is limited to altitudes between 1830 and 2550m, and it is normally confined to hollows and valleys where the topography provides some protection from fire. Most commonly it occurs as small woodlands amongst rolling tussocky grassland slopes, between craggy, granite, rock faces.
The timber is pale red, straight grained and pleaseantly fragrant. Its major qualities are that it works well and is extremely durable, being resistant to attacks from termites, wood boring insects and fungi. For these reasons the timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
achieved major economic significance during the first three decades of this century, when it was high in demand for developing work. Currently the timber is most used in the making of local arts and crafts, fishing boats for Lake Malawi
Lake Malawi
Lake Malawi , is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the Great Rift Valley system of East Africa. This lake, the third largest in Africa and the eighth largest lake in the world, is located between Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania...
, as well as in the construction and decoration of many prestigious buildings.
Due to the high demand for its timber and changing ecological conditions, on the mountain, the tree is under threat of extinction. Mulanje Cedar is a pioneer species
Pioneer species
Pioneer species are species which colonize previously uncolonized land, usually leading to ecological succession. They are the first organisms to start the chain of events leading to a livable biosphere or ecosystem...
, not a climax species
Climax species
Climax species, also called late seral, late-successional, K-selected or equilibrium species, are plant species that will remain essentially unchanged in terms of species composition for as long as a site remains undisturbed. They are the most shade-tolerant species of tree to establish in the...
, this means that it is good at taking advantage of sites which suddenly become free of other competing species but it is not successful in open competition
Competition
Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...
. So, when fire occurs which destroys the trees in an area of woodland, Mulanje Cedar will normally be the first tree species to re-establish itself. Other species will come in later but because the cedar is relatively fast growing, it will not face much competition for sunlight.
If the area is undisturbed, the Cedar will continue to grow well and other, more shade-tolerant species, will come in and form a dense canopy beneath it. The forest floor will then become dark, and young Cedar, being relatively light demanding, will not flourish. It is only if there is further disturbance in the area which allows a lot of light to the forest floor that significant quantities of Cedar will be able to establish itself. Thus, fire is an essential pre-requisite for dense, even, natural regeneration. The timing between fires is also critical. If fires are too frequent, the young trees will be killed before they can produce seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
; if the fires are too infrequent the trees will die before space is created for their seeds to use. Generally it is said that a fire interval between 100 to 200 years would be ideal. During recent years however, due to the increasing population of subsistence farmers around the base of the mountain, fires spreading up and over the mountain, especially in the dry season, have become more frequent. It is clear that most young trees are being killed before they reach maturity.
The Forestry Department provides the cedar forests with protection from damaging fires. Each year at the beginning of the dry season hundreds of kilometers of firebreaks are hoed clean of vegetation to provide barriers which will impede the advance of fires. In addition early controlled burning is carried out to reduce the build up of combustible material which could otherwise cause very intense and damaging fires later in the dry season. For further safety fire standby gangs equipped with fire fighting equipment are stationed on each of the plateau areas whenever there is a fire hazard.
As well as providing protection from fires the Forestry Department and the Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust
Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust
The Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust is a conservation trust in Malawi.It is an environmental endowment trust funded by the World Bank through the Global Environmental Facility and aims at providing long-term reliable support for biodiversity research and conservation of biological diversity...
carefully control the use of the trees. Back in the day sawing licenses could be issued by the Forestry Department, but because there was still an extensive amount of illegal pit sawing taking place, the sawing season has been closed since 2007. But of course the pit sawing did not stop. The black market for Cedar wood grew, and has not been stopped, yet. All cedar wood sawn after 2007 is illegal wood, and can be confiscated by Forestry, MMCT and the Malawi Police.
Since 2009 there are also Armed Forestry Groups patrolling the Cedar clusters, to stop the illegal pit sawyers.
But firebreaks and patrols are not the only things done to conserve Malawi’s National Tree. Forestry has established a planting programme to re-populate the Mulanje Cedar(Cypress). In the rainy season 2008/09 there were over 50000 seedlings planted on Mount Mulanje with an estimated survival rate of over 30%. In 2009/10 Forestry plans to plant more than 20000 seedlings, with, hopefully, an even higher survival rate.
But the problem is not solved, yet. Conservation needs to be continued with rising intensity. The Widdringtonia whytei is still listed as “Threatened-Endangered (IUCN 2.3)” in the annual Red List published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). If the conservation work is not continued, the noble Mulanje Cedar, Malawi’s National Tree, will probably extinct in less than 10 years.