Encephalartos lehmannii
Encephalartos lehmannii
Encephalartos lehmannii is a representative of cycads ( Cycadales ) and belongs to the genus of bread cycads ( Encephalartos ).
Features
The stems are usually for two or more due to Wurzelschösslingen. They are maintained up to 1.5 m at a diameter of 25 to 50 cm. The numerous leaves are straight, or the tip is bent back down, they are 1 to 1.5 m long, 25 cm wide. The entire surface is silvery hairy. The petiole is 25 to 30 cm long, unarmed and has a swollen base with an eye-catching, red-brown to yellow- brown collar. The rachis is slightly conical, smooth or with slight furrows. The lower leaflets are not reduced to spines. The middle leaves are 12-18 cm long, 17-19 mm wide, they stand off at a right angle from the rachis and overlap rare. The leaf margin is flat and usually entire, rarely with one or two small spines.
The female cones are individually. They are erect, ovoid, 45-50 cm long and approximately 24 cm in diameter. The stem is short, stocky and hidden by Cataphylle. The mean Sporophylle are about 6 inches long. The lying on the journal surface side of the sporophyll is 3.5 cm high, 6 cm wide, actually green, black, red, acting through the dense Behaare. The sarcotesta the seed is matured red. The Sklerotesta is slightly ovoid, 21-30 mm long, 16-18 mm in diameter, light brown with slight ribs 7 to 11 in a lighter color.
The male cones are individually. They are almost cylindrical, upright, 37 to 49 cm long with a diameter of 10 to 11 cm, down narrowing toward the ends. The color is green, with a tight, short black hair red. The stem is 3.5 to 5 cm long, yellow and bare. A sporophyll is 4 to 4.5 cm long. The lying on the journal surface side of the sporophyll is 13 to 15 mm high and 30 to 35 mm wide.
Dissemination and locations
The species occurs in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa before, in the districts of Willowmore, Uitenhage, Steytlerville, Pearston and Bedford, especially in the catchment areas of the rivers Groot and Sundays. It grows best in hot, dry sandstone hills in the Karoo bush together with Euphorbia. They usually grow in full sunlight. The annual rainfall is 350 mm and less in summer and fall. Winters are cold and frosts frequently.
Populations have declined in the late 20th century. The cause is considered mainly the popularity of the species as an ornamental plant. Other factors include grazing by goats and the slow regeneration of plants. A weevil in the family Curculionidae parasitizes the seed. 2002, there were no safeguards for the type, which is classified as endangered.
Use
Encephalartos lehmannii is often cultivated as an ornamental plant. In the form of their original scientific name it was in 1986 namesake for the music album " Zamia lehmannii - Songs of Byzantine Flowers" of the Australian band SPK.
Botanical history
The species was named after the director of the Botanical Garden Hamburg, Johann Georg Christian Lehmann, a prominent researcher of the cycad, Zamia lehmannii as described. After the formation of the genus Encephalartos it was provided by Lehmann himself in this genre. 1933 more until then they accept as its own species in E. lehmannii was integrated, and include: E. pungens, E. elongatus, E. spinulosus, E. mauritianus. In 1965 princeps spun off from the kind of RA Dyer, the two species Encephalartos trispinosus and Encephalartos.
Documents
- Loran M. Whitelock: The Cycads. Timber Press, Portland, OR 2002, ISBN 0-88192-522-5, pp. 213 f