''Widdringtonia schwarzii'' (Willowmore cedar or Willowmore cypress, af, Baviaanskloof-seder)University of the Witwatersrand

/ref> is a species of ''

Widdringtonia ''Widdringtonia'' is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). The name was Austrian botanist Stephan Endlicher's way of honouring an early expert on the coniferous forests of Spain, Capt. Samuel Edward Widdrington (1787� ...

'' native to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, where it is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the

Baviaanskloof Baviaanskloof Mega Reserve is a protected area in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Characteristics The Baviaanskloof - (Dutch for "Valley of Baboons") - lies between the Baviaanskloof and Kouga mountain ranges. The easternmost point of ...

and Kouga Mountains west of Port Elizabeth in

Eastern Cape Province The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in 199 ...

; it occurs on dry rocky slopes and crags at 600-1,200 m altitude. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

, particularly by

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...

.Farjon, A. (2005). ''Monograph of Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys''. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The Willowmore cypress is a protected tree in South Africa. It is a medium-sized

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

growing to 20–25 m (formerly known to 40 m) tall. The leaves are scale-like, 1.5 mm long and 1 mm broad on small shoots, up to 10 mm long on strong-growing shoots, and arranged in opposite decussate pairs. The

cones A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines conn ...

are globose to rectangular, 2–3 cm long, with four scales. It is closely related to ''

Widdringtonia wallichii ''Widdringtonia wallichii'', Clanwilliam cedar or Clanwilliam cypress, previously ''Widdringtonia cedarbergensis'' is a species of ''Widdringtonia'' native to South Africa, where it is endemism, endemic to the Cederberg, Cederberg Mountains nort ...

'' from Western Cape Province, being most easily distinguished by its larger seeds with a short seedwing.

References

;Notes ;Sources * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2409200 schwarzii Afromontane flora Protected trees of South Africa Vulnerable plants Taxonomy articles created by Polbot