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Cycads in South Africa. Cycads / ˈ s aɪ k æ d z / are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody trunk with a crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants of a species are either male or female. Cycads vary in size from having trunks only a few centimeters ...
The only known wild plants of E. woodii were a cluster of four stems of one plant discovered by Wood in 1895 in a small area of Ngoya Forest, [7] now known by its proper Zulu name of oNgoye, which is in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. [8] The site where this plant was found was on a steep south-facing slope [2] [4] on the fringes of the forest. [4]
The plant can survive up to USDA region 8b (10° to 20°F). The stems and leaves regenerate after the cold period subsides with full foliage. [8] [9] Like other cycads, Z. integrifolia is dioecious, having male or female plants. The male cones are cylindrical, growing to 5–16 cm long; they are often clustered.
Cycas is a genus of cycad, and the only genus in the family Cycadaceae with all other genera of cycad being divided between the Stangeriaceae and Zamiaceae families. Cycas circinalis, a species endemic to India, was the first cycad species to be described in western literature, and is the type species of the genus.
Including the leaves, the whole plant typically grows to 1.3 m tall with a width of about 2 m. Leaflets. The leaves radiate from the center of the trunk; each leaf is 50–150 cm long with a petiole 15–30 cm long, and 6-12 pairs of extremely stiff, pubescent (fuzzy) green leaflets. These leaflets grow 8–20 cm long and 3–5 cm wide.
The leaves are pinnately compound and can grow up to two meters long. They are typically hard-textured, and green. [7] Young leaves are described as being hairy, and ranging from dark green to coppery brown in color. [4] Each leaflet is about 15 cm long and about 3.5 to 5 cm wide.
Several species of Encephalartos are commonly referred to as bread trees, [2] bread palms [3] or kaffir bread, [4] since a bread-like starchy food can be prepared from the centre of the stem. The genus name is derived from the Greek words en (within), kephalē (head), and artos (bread), referring to the use of the pith to make food.
The Zamiaceae are a family of cycads that are superficially palm or fern-like. They are divided into two subfamilies with eight genera and about 150 species in the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Australia and North and South America.