Pronounciation: A-fro-CAR-pus gra-SIL-ee-or

Hardiness zones
Sunset 8-9, 12-13 (with protection), 14-24
USDA 9-11

Landscape Use: Fern pine because of its eventual mature size is best planted in Phoenix with space to grow on north sides of buildings. Though rarely seen in Phoenix landscapes, fern pine is extremely popular in coastal southern California where it is often used and misused, e.g. southern Californians often fail to understand how large it becomes and plant it 2 feet on center as a formal hedge under the guise that it is "a very versatile plant". It is also found in large indoor atriums in the eastern United States and can be cultivated for extended periods in large containers.

Form & Character: Upright and stiffly rounded to pendulous and graceful, conifer like, lacy, refined, mesic.

Growth Habit: Evergreen, woody, broadleaf (actually leaves are quite narrow with a coniferous appearance) perennial tree, moderately fast to 60 feet in height, generally upright when young becoming more spreading with age.

A warning for landscape designers: Don't underestimate the eventual size of this tree, it's ultimately very large.

Foliage/Texture: Narrow lanceolate to linear leaves, 2- to 4-inches long, dull green on dull green stems, irregularly arranged. In Phoenix, 'summer leaves' shorter than 'winter leaves' because of the blisteringly, ridiculous high summer heat; overall fine texture.

Flowers & Fruits: Flowers are inconspicuous. Fruits are rounded, one or two together at the end of short leafy spur branchlets, small, single seeded, green changing to yellow when ripe, lacking a basal, fleshy receptacle.

Seasonal Color: None

Temperature: Sensitive to temperatures above 112^oF, especially when young. Plant fern pine on north sides of buildings for heat protection when young. Freeze intolerant (but due to the Phoenix urban heat island when was the last time it froze in Phoenix?)

Light: Nearly full shade to full sun, but no reflected sunlight or bright western exposures.

Soil: Tolerant

Watering: Regular

Pruning: Raising the crown base is needed when training as a small tree. Fern pine may also be trained as wall espalier when young.

Propagation: Seed or cutting. Seed propagated trees are upright, whereas cutting propagated trees need ample staking when young to establish an upright posture.

Disease and Pests: Spider mites

Additional comments: Fern pine is a very nice and clean tree (less than average litter) that requires an appropriate planting location in Phoenix (usually north exposures, north sides of larger multi-story buildings, or mesic landscapes with copious greenery). Fern pine casts a medium dense shade when it is mature. Although special care to planting location is warranted in Phoenix, fern pine is actually quite adaptable to most all exposures in the non-lower desert, mild climate zones of the western United States.

Taxonomic notes: Afrocarpus gracilior and Afrocarpus falcatus (from South Africa) are very similar in appearance. And these two species are considered by some botanists to be conspecific. But they are not only geographically separated but also distinct in several, albeit minor, morphological characters and here are considered as separate species following Farjon (2010). All species of Afrocarpus (formerly Podocarpus) are native to Africa.

Source: Farjon, A. 2010. A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.