Mlanje cypress

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.

Of these the Mlanje Cypress is the most valuable, the timber being of excellent quality, durable, and impervious to white ants. It is found only on the higher slopes and plateaux of the Mlanje mountain, where it is fairly abundant at an eleva- tion varying from 4,000 to 7,000 ft. above sea level. The tree grows to a large size, and the timber is extensively used by the Public Works Department for building and various purposes. More