OTHER CYCAD FEATURES
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ENCEPHALARTOS NATALENSIS
Description: Medium to large green cycad from the
the northern part of the Easter Cape region where it natively
lives at elevations to 300 feet. It lives on mountain
cliffs and outcrops and is known as the Natal Cycad.
It is similar to E. altensteinii but, rather than a
clean basal leaf stem does have prickles and spines.
Plant Size: Mature height after many
decades can reach up to over twenty feet height and have leaves
that are five to eight feet and green in color. Leaves
emerge upright but relax when new leaves are thrown.
Other Characteristics: Leaves often have
a brown to gold fuzz on them when emerging. With age,
leaflets will have one to five spines on either margin and do
come to a point. Both male and female cones have an
orange-yellow color. Both sexes are needed to make pure
species seeds..
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 22
degrees F. It prefers good draining soil - sitting in wet
and boggy soil is bad for this species and most cycads. It
can easily be grown on the patio if given adequate light.
Desert areas should consider only a few hours of direct desert
sun.
Landscape Usage: It is best to give this
species plenty of room in the garden. It makes a
spectacular specimen plant. Plants can form suckering
offsets but usually have one main primary stem. Trunks can
branch. In bright
sun the leaves may not be as long as in lesser sun. Plants
usually throw new leaves once a year during the growing season.
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 natalensis is a
rare species but for a South African species is affordable.
Examples of prices are listed below.
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