OTHER CYCAD FEATURES
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ENCEPHALARTOS LEHMANNII
Locality: Native to the Easter
Cape region of South Africa where it grows on mountainous sandy
slopes and ridges. The second photo here is from habitat
(MR). Of note this is a very arid natural habitat and this
cycad is mixed among spiny plants like Aloe and
Euphorbia. This is a small to medium sized cycad and
slow growing and naturally sees very little
precipitation.
Plant Size: This cycad is of diminutive
size, rarely exceeding a meter trunk although six foot trunked
specimens in the wild have been seen. Leaves are of four,
maximum five feet long. Thus, the average overall height
of a garden plant is rarely over six feet.
Other Characteristics: There
are many fascinating characteristics about this plant.
Primarily, it is a very prominently blue cycad - sometimes
almost silver in leaf color. Leaflets are spineless except
at their tips. The leaves are upright and, with many sets
of leaves, the upper half of a sphere in shape. At the
base of the leaf stem there is a golden color collar attached to
the trunk. Both male and female plants are needed for seed
production.
Culture: Along the coast this species
tolerates full sun or part day sun. It easily withstands a
freeze and has an absolute cold tolerance down to about 20-22
degrees F. It prefers good draining soil - and should be
mounded if your soil is heavy or clay. It can easily be grown
on the patio if given adequate light. Desert areas in
California can grow this species in sun or part sun, but more
harsh areas like Arizona
should grow them exposed to only a few hours of direct sun.
Landscape Usage: This species should be
showcased as it has beautiful color and often have striking leaf
shape. I would recommend planting these where you can
control the water, which doesn't inherently exclude tropical
landscapes (you just need to plan as regards protection from
water). I would plant this species in the foreground so it
can be adequately appreciated, but far enough from a walkway so
as not to get poked.
Availability: We
typically can offer sizes from seedlings or small plants up to
coning sized specimens. At any given time we should have
at least a hundred of this species available. The sizes
from bands up to 15g can be easily mail ordered. Larger
plants can be delivered by truck.
Pricing:
Encephalartos lehmannii is a
rare South African species. Blue cycads tend to be more
expensive than green varieties, but this species is somewhat
fairly affordable.
Examples of prices are listed below.
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