Cycads of South Africa

[Lisbeth]

There are probably some on the Brissago islands (Botannical garden) in the Lago Maggiore in front of Locarno

Found them!! http://www.isolebrissago.ch/en/parco-bo ... ycadaceae/

[nan]

There are probably some on the Brissago islands (Botannical garden) in the Lago Maggiore in front of Locarno

Found them!! http://www.isolebrissago.ch/en/parco-bo ... ycadaceae/

[Sharifa]

E.dolomiticus

Description



The stem is well-developed and often suckering from the base. It can be up to 2m long and 250mm to 400mm in diameter. Older stems are mostly leaning or procumbent when longer than one meter.

The leaves are strongly glaucous ("blue"), straight but not very rigid and sometimes spirally rotated around the axis to give the plant a rather untidy appearance. The petiole is about 120mm long, and the complete frond about 800mm.



The pinnae are directed towards the apex of the frond at an angle of about 45° with the rachis, with opposing leaflets set at an angle of about 90° to each other. The basal leaflets do not overlap, but the median and apical leaflets overlap so that the upper margins of the lower leaflets cover the lower margins of the leaflets in the direction of the apex of the frond, as seen from above. The lower leaflets are not, or only slightly, reduced in size towards the base of the frond. The median leaflets are very narrowly elliptic and slightly curved, tapering to both ends with the apices spinescent, the margins in mature plants having no spines, up to 170mm long and 10mm to 12mm wide.

The male and female cones are very different in outward appearance. They are olive-green, and at a first glance they appear to be hairless, but when the cone scales separate when the cones fall apart, a dense hair coat around the margins of the scales become visible. In mature plants up to three male cones per stem have been recorded. These are very narrowly egg-shaped, 300mm to 400mm long and 60mm to 100mm in diameter, carried on a stalk which is about 80mm long. The faces of the scales are drawn out into a conspicuous lip. Up to three female cones per stem have been seen. These are egg-shaped, 300mm to 450mm long and 180mm to 250mm in diameter, apparently sessile but with an 80mm long stalk hidden amongst the scale leaves at the apex of the stem. Characteristically the female scale faces are conspicuously warty.

Distribution and Habitat

E. dolomiticus occurs (or perhaps more correctly, occurred) in the eastern parts of the Drakensberg, where it is known from only a few sites. Here it was recorded in extremely rugged terrain. It was found it in short grassland with scattered small trees, apparently always associated with dolomite outcrops, hence the specific epithet. There are no climatological data for this remote region, but judging from the vegetation the annual rainfall probably amounts to 600mm to 800mm, and occasional frost may occur in winter. Very little information is available, but is seems as if this species is not a vigorous grower.

The existence of this species has been suspected since the early 1970's, but information was so slow in coming forth that it was only described in 1988. This species remains extremely poorly known and it is unlikely that we will ever learn much about it, as it has practically been eliminated in nature. Those specimens which survived removal are scattered through private collections, often without any data about their origin, and often not recognized for what they are, because in the vegetative state this species is without strong distinguishing characteristics.

[Sharifa]

E.dyerianus

Description



The stems are well-developed and robust, unbranched but often suckering from the base. Stems can be up to 3m or occasionally 6m tall and 300mm to 400mm in diameter.

Plants have numerous leaves, arranged in a dense crown. Leaves are conspicuously glaucous ("blue"), straight and rigid. Length varies from 1.4m to 1.7m with a petiole no more than 60mm long.

The pinnae are directed towards the apex of the leaf. The leaflets are not, or only slightly overlapping, and the lower leaflets are gradually reduced to prickles towards the base of the leaf. The median leaflets are 170mm to 240mm long and 13mm to 18mm wide, very narrowly elliptic and somewhat curved. The apices are spinescent and somewhat turned in the direction of the leaf apex. There are several teeth on both margins of seedling leaflets but without any teeth on leaflets of mature plants.

The male and female cones are quite different, but both are hairless with the scale faces smooth and bluish green. Five to eight male cones per stem has been observed. These are narrowly egg-shaped, 270mm to 460mm long and 90mm to 120mm wide. Cones are borne on a 100mm to 170mm long peduncle. The central facet of the cone scale face is slightly raised, but not drawn out into a beak or lip. The female cones number 4 to 5 per stem. They are cylindrical, 300mm to 600mm long and 100mm to 200mm wide. They appear to be sessile, but are carried on peduncles up to 120mm long which are hidden amongst the scale leaves in the crown of the stem. Each cone contains about 200 seeds and the sarcotesta is orange-brown in colour.

Distribution and Habitat

E. dyerianus occurs mainly on a low granite hill, at an elevation of about 700m above sea level, a few kilometers north of Mica in Limpopo. This area consists of plains covered with mopane trees, and interrupted by a series of rather similar granite hills. Inexplicably E. dyerianus grows on only one of these hills. Near Gravelotte a few scattered plants have been located in the mopane bush, but these are too few and too scattered to reproduce from seed. On average this area gets an annual summer rainfall of 400mm to 500mm, and summer temperatures get very high amongst the granite boulders where E. dyerianus grows wedged into crevices, in blazing sunshine.

For a change the conservation status of this species is a happy story. The hill on which these plants were first discovered, contains about 600 plants which produce large amounts of viable seeds during good years. In fact, the plants grow so densely that the sight is only surpassed by that of E. transvenosus at Modjadji. Some years ago hundreds of seedling were raised by the then Transvaal Division of Nature Conservation and sold to the public under the name E. eugene-maraisii, so that it is quite well established in older collections. One reason for the successful conservation of this species is that practically the whole population is concentrated on a single hill, which made it practical to fence the site and appoint a permanent guard who is on duty 24 hours a day. It is now a nature reserve administered by the Transvaal Chief Directorate of Nature Conservation, as the Lillie Flora Reserve.

[Sharifa]

There are probably some on the Brissago islands (Botannical garden) in the Lago Maggiore in front of Locarno

Found them!! http://www.isolebrissago.ch/en/parco-bo ... ycadaceae/

That is the Cycas Revoluta from Japan.

Have one in my garden as well



The cone

[Lisbeth]

Looks great in that corner

[Sharifa]

Thanks Lisbeth

If you look at the base of the first photo you can see a sucker growing with its own new leaves. It can also grow as large as the mother plant.
Nobody told the cycads our garden is not that large

[Lisbeth]

Your problem

[Sharifa]

[Sharifa]

E. ferox

Description





Encephalartos ferox is not usually regarded as having much of an exposed trunk, although it is certainly possible to find specimens in the wild with stems of up to 2m above ground level. Branching of the trunk is uncommon and usually occurs only when the growing apex becomes physically damaged. In mature plants the trunk reaches 25cm to 35cm in diameter.

Leaves of this species are 1m to 2m long and usually straight.

The dark green pinnae, somewhat holly-like in appearance, occur as more or less opposite pairs, set along the rachis to make a slight V-angle and diminish in size to a series of prickles toward the leaf base. Median leaflets are typically flat or only slightly ruffled, 15cm long and up to 5cm broad. In some plants the leaflet margins are quite markedly rolled under to give a tubular appearance. The leaflets have 2 to 4 small teeth on each margin and 3 to 5 spiny lobes at the apex.



E. ferox usually bears 1-3 cones but on older specimens as many as 5 or 10 cones are borne by female or male plants respectively. The cones are usually a brilliant scarlet colour, occasionally tending to pink shades and golden-yellow cones have been seen in plants in the Sileze area and from certain Mozambique localities. Male cones are sub-cylindrical, 40cm to 50cm long and 7cm to 10cm in diameter. Female cones are more ovoid, 25cm to 50cm long and 20cm to 40cm in diameter. Cone scales are somewhat wrinkled and end in a pronounced beak. Each female cone bears about 500 seeds which have a bright red outer skin (sarcotesta) and are typically 4.5cm to 5cm long and 1.5cm to 2cm in diameter.



Distribution and Habitat

The natural habitat of E. ferox comprises a fairly narrow strip of coastal scrub extending from Sodwana Bay on the Zululand coast up to a point about 650 km north of Maputo in Mozambique. It is fairly well established throughout this area and although the species is not officially listed as endangered, rare or threatened, numbers have been reduced due to encroachment of habitation in Mozambique, afforestation activities in Zululand and the activities of unscrupulous collectors.
In Kwa-Zulu Natal the main four localities are south of Kosi Bay, the shores near Lake Sibaya, the Sileze area and the Tembe elephant park. In the coastal zones it is often found associated with the wild banana, Strelitzia nicolai, while further inland it occurs in wooded scrub.

Apart from its occurrence on the African mainland, the species is also found on Innaca Island, about 35 km east of Maputo. The habitat experience typically hot and humid tropical weather with an annual rainfall, mostly falling in summer, of 1,000mm to 1,250mm. In certain of the grassland areas there are cyclical fires at about a four year frequency to which the species seems well adapted. Its occurrence on stabilised sand dunes is a character, which E. ferox shares with E. arenarius in the Eastern Cape. However, plants of E. ferox do not grow right down to the shore itself, the latter quality amongst cycads apparently being confined to E. hildebrandtii in East Africa. The furthest inland occurrence of E. ferox is that of a solitary specimen found by Natal Parks Board officer, I. Steytler, in 1964 on the Makatini Flats about 40 km inland from Sodwana Bay.

This does seem to be somewhat outside the usual narrow coastal range and Cynthia Giddy speculated that its presence might have arisen from transport of a seed by the Trumpeter Hornbill which is common in the area and has been observed swallowing whole cycad seed, later to regurgitate the kernel.

E. ferox grows well in frost-free areas and enjoys plenty of heat and water, consistent with its conditions in habitat. One of the fastest growing of all cycads, it can cone within 12 years from the time of seed germination. Plants prefer shady conditions with well-drained soil.