Kingdom Plantae Class Pinopsida Family Cupressaceae Scientific name Widdringtonia wallichii | Division Pinophyta Order Pinales Genus Widdringtonia Rank Species | |
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Similar Widdringtonia, Widdringtonia nodiflora, Widdringtonia schwarzii, Widdringtonia whytei, Libocedrus bidwillii | ||
Widdringtonia wallichii previously Widdringtonia cedarbergensis (Clanwilliam Cedar or Clanwilliam Cypress) is a species of Widdringtonia native to South Africa, where it is endemic to the Cederberg Mountains northeast of Cape Town in Western Cape Province. It is threatened by habitat loss and protected in South Africa under the National Forest Act (Act 84) of 1998.
It is a small evergreen tree growing to 5–7 m (rarely to 20 m) tall. The leaves are scale-like, 1.5 mm long and 1 mm broad on small shoots, up to 15 mm long on strong-growing shoots, and arranged in opposite decussate pairs. The cones are globose to rectangular, 2–3 cm long, with four scales.
The tree is widely known as the "Clanwilliam Cedar" but botanists have recommended the name Clanwilliam Cypress to better reflect its botanical relationships.
Chemical constituents
The essential oil derived from leaves contains terpinen-4-ol (36.0%), sabinene (19.2%), γ-terpinene (10.4%), α-terpinene (5.5%) and myrcene (5.5%). The wood oil contains thujopsene (47.1%), α-cedrol (10.7%), widdrol (8.5%) and cuparene (4.0%).
