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Cycads all over the world are in decline, with four species on the brink of extinction and seven species have fewer than 100 plants left in the wild. [2] 23,420 species of vascular plant have been recorded in South Africa, making it the sixth most species-rich country in the world and the most species-rich country on the African continent.
Encephalartos ghellinckii Lem. or Drakensberg cycad is endemic to South Africa, and is one of about 70 species found in sub-Saharan Africa.Strongly associated with the Natal Drakensberg, this 3m tall evergreen species is found from the foothills to fairly high altitudes, growing on stream banks, steep grassy slopes and sandstone outcrops.
Female specimens have solitary cylindrical-ovoid cones, approximately 40–50 cm long and 16–18 cm wide, with a conical apex, also yellow to greenish-yellow in color. The seeds are roughly ovoid, about 3.5 cm long, and covered with a brown to red sarcotesta. [5]
Encephalartos lebomboensis is a species of cycad in the family Zamiaceae. Native to the Lebombo Mountains of South Africa, the species was first described in 1949 by the South African botanist Inez Verdoorn. [3] It is commonly known as the Lebombo cycad, although the name is also used for Encephalartos senticosus which also occurs in the same ...
Encephalartos altensteinii is a palm-like cycad in the family Zamiaceae. It is endemic to South Africa. The species name altensteinii commemorates Altenstein, a 19th-century German chancellor and patron of science. [4] It is commonly known as the breadtree, broodboom, Eastern Cape giant cycad or uJobane . [5]
Encephalartos horridus, the Eastern Cape blue cycad, [3] is a small, low-growing cycad up to 0.9 m (3.0 ft) high and 0.9 m (3.0 ft) wide. [4] It is a native of Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, and found in arid shrublands, most commonly on ridges and slopes with shallow soils.
Encephalartos villosus is a South African cycad occurring from the East London vicinity, where it is found near the coast, to the northern border of Eswatini (Swaziland) where it may grow as far as 100 km inland. The species is common throughout its range and is the most frequently cultivated in Southern Africa, largely because of its ...
The longest leaflets are in the centre of the leaf, and the leaflets nearest the leaf base may be replaced by spines, a fact that distinguishes this cycad from the otherwise similar Encephalartos altensteinii. The Natal cycad is dioecious, having male and female cones on separate plants. The male cones are velvety and about 45 by 11 cm (18 by 4 ...