Encephalartos altensteinii
Encephalartos altensteinii
Encephalartos altensteinii is a representative of cycads ( Cycadales ) and belongs to the genus of bread cycads ( Encephalartos ).
Features
The stems are erect, tree -shaped, sometimes prostrate, when they grow in shallow soils and steep slopes. The stem is up to 5 m high and reaches a diameter of 25 to 35 cm. He is light brown and bears showy leaf scars.
The leaves are numerous, pale to yellow-green, usually straight, rarely up bent backwards down. They are simply pinnate, 1.5 to 2 meters long and up to 35 cm wide. The petiole is 10 to 30 cm long and unarmed. The leaflets are available in 100 or more pairs, are lanceolate, are uniformly spaced at an angle of 30 to 40 ° forward. The lower leaflets are smaller, but not thorny. The middle leaves are 12.5 to 17 cm long. The young leaves at the edge not to three spines in adult plants, they have no or a terminal spike ( except the plants from the Bushmans River).
The female cones are individually or up to fifth. They are cylindrical, ovoid, 40-50 cm long and 20-30 cm in diameter. The color ranges from greenish yellow to golden yellow. The stem is very short, so that the pin appears sitting. The lying on the journal surface side of the sporophyll is 3.5 cm high, 4.5 to 5 cm wide, hairy deeply wrinkled and easily. The sarcotesta the seed is matured scarlet to bright red, ovoid, 29-33 mm long, 19-21 mm in diameter and smooth, but with 11 to 13 longitudinal furrows.
The male cones are individually up to fifth. They are almost cylindrical, 40 to 50 cm long with a diameter of 12 to 15 cm. The color is greenish yellow to golden yellow. The stem is 5 to 10 cm in length, and measures 4 to 5 cm in diameter. The lying on the journal surface side of the sporophyll is 12 mm high and 20 to 28 mm wide; she wears a 1.5 to 2 cm long, downward curved beak. The sporangia cover the entire bottom of the sporophyll.
The species is quite variable, particularly in terms of spines.
Dissemination and locations
The species occurs in South Africa; the area ranges from the Bushmans River in the Eastern Cape Province to the north and east almost to the border of KwaZulu -Natal.
Here, the species grows in lower coastal thickets and forests from sea level to 250 meters above sea level, often in fully sunny locations, in the woods but even in full shade. The annual precipitation is 875-1000 mm and falls mainly in the summer. The climate is hot in summer, cold in winter, with little frost. The species is a common plant in their area and is considered to be not at risk.
Use
The species is often held in the Botanical Gardens and by collectors because of their attitude and their simple appearance. In the Eastern Cape Province is a ubiquitous ornamental plant outdoors.
Botanical history and systematics
The species is named for the Old Stone (1770-1840) from the stone after the Prussian statesman Karl. It was developed by Georg Christian Lehmann in 1834 first described based on material that Christian Friedrich Ecklon and Carl Ludwig Philipp Zeyher had collected in the 1820s. A copy of the oldest known in culture, is since 1777 - as E. longifolius determined at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.
The closest related species Encephalartos lebomboensis, Encephalartos longifolius and Encephalartos natalensis. It is also the species within the genus, from the known, most hybrids.
Documents
- Loran M. Whitelock: The Cycads. Timber Press, Portland, OR 2002, ISBN 0-88192-522-5.