Encephalartos villosus

Encephalartos villosus

Encephalartos villosus is a representative of cycads ( Cycadales ) and belongs to the genus of bread cycads ( Encephalartos ). The Style epithet means villosus hairy and refers to the densely woolly hair of the crown and the young leaves.

Features

The tribes are mainly underground, more or less spherical and rarely protrude more than 15 cm from the ground. They have a diameter of 20 to 30 cm. By suckers form in older specimens multi-headed clumps. The crown is covered with dense hair woolly. The roots are numerous, thick, bulbous and contractile. The Cataphylle are densely hairy, about 63 mm long and 25 mm wide.

The usually 3 to 10 leaves are upright, partly bent, light to medium glossy green, 1.5 to 3 m long, 40-50 cm wide, flat. Young leaves are densely hairy white. The petiole is missing or a maximum of 5 to 6.5 cm long. The leaflets are 20-25 cm long, 1-2 cm wide, lanceolate, falcate and with 0 to several thorns. Towards the base, the leaflets are reduced in length and terminate in a spike series.

The female cones are individually up to fourth. They are barrel-shaped, 40 to 50 cm long with a diameter of 16 to 20 cm. The color to maturity is bright yellow to apricot - yellow. The stem is 75-138 mm long. The sporophylls have a serrated lower edge which overlaps with the subjacent sporophyll. The lying on the journal surface side of the sporophyll is 40 to 63 mm high and 31 to 55 mm wide. The sarcotesta the seed is matured scarlet. The Sklerotesta is flattened long ovate, 28-31 mm long, 14-17 mm in diameter, with 9 to 12 distinct longitudinal ridge, between a network of numerous indistinct furrows.

The male cones are individually up to fourth. They are long conical, from 40 to 60 cm long with a diameter of 8 to 10 cm. The color is pale yellow to yellow-green. The stem is 6-16 cm long. The sporophylls are 3 to 3.5 cm long. The lying on the journal surface side of the sporophyll is 10 to 14 mm high and 25 to 34 mm wide. The sporangia cover the entire bottom of the sporophylls with the exception of a sterile leaf edge.

Dissemination and locations

The species is native to South Africa. It comes from the Eastern Cape Province, near East London, eastward through the Transkei and KwaZulu -Natal to the south-eastern areas of Mpumalanga and Swaziland. They grow in subtropical coastal belt in lower forests up in temperate areas with mild winters, from sea level to 300 meters above sea level. The rainfall is 1000-1250 mm annually, mostly falling in summer.

It is one of the most common types of South Africa and one of the few species that prefers shady locations. Location losses and the collecting of plants have reduced the numbers, but the species is not yet considered endangered.

Use

In South Africa, it is a popular garden plant.

System

The closest relatives of Encephalartos villosus Encephalartos are aplanatus and Encephalartos umbeluzensis. With Encephalartos lebomboensis it forms natural hybrids, as well altensteinii with Encephalartos.

Documents

• Loran M. Whitelock: The Cycads. Timber Press, Portland, OR 2002, ISBN 0-88192-522-5, pp. 240 f