Encephalartos cycadifolius

This cycad has an underground trunk, reaching up to 1.5 m in height and 25-30 cm in diameter. It often produces secondary stems from shoots at its base. Its pinnate leaves, 60–90 cm long, grow in a crown at the top of the stem, each supported by a 10-20 cm petiole without thorns. The leaves consist of numerous pairs of lanceolate leaflets, about 9-12 cm long, with an entire margin, and are olive-green in color. This species is dioecious, with male specimens bearing 1 or 2 cylindrical-conical cones, 13–22 cm long and 5–7 cm broad, covered in a greyish tomentum. Female specimens have 1 or 2 cylindrical-ovoid cones, pedunculate, 20–30 cm long and 16–18 cm in diameter, greenish-yellow and thickly tomentose. The seeds are roughly ovoid, 20–30 mm long, and covered by a yellow-orange to amber sarcotesta.^[4]

• Media related to Encephalartos cycadifolius at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Encephalartos cycadifolius at Wikispecies

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