''Encephalartos concinnus'' is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
cycad
Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk (botany), trunk with a crown (botany), crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants o ...
in the family
Zamiaceae
The Zamiaceae are a family of cycads that are superficially palm or fern-like. They are divided into two subfamilies with eight genera and about 150 species in the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Australia and North and South America. ...
. It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
. It is known as the Runde cycad.
Description
It is an arborescent plant, with erect or decumbent stem, without branches, up to 2.5–3 m tall and with a diameter of 35–45 cm, covered with tomentose cataphylls.
The pinnate leaves, arranged in a crown at the apex of the stem, are 150–200 cm long, composed of about 50 pairs of lanceolate leaflets, with margins endowed with small spines and arranged on the rachis at an angle of 45-80°.
It is a dioecious species, endowed with 1-4 fusiform male cones, sessile, green in color, 30–50 cm long and with a diameter of 7–10 cm, with broad and rhombic-shaped microsporophylls, and 1-2 female cones, ovoid, always green, but 35–45 cm long and with a diameter of 15–20 cm, with macrosporophylls with a warty surface.
The seeds have an oblong shape, are 30–35 mm long, have a width of 8–23 mm and are covered with a brown
sarcotesta
The sarcotesta is a fleshy seedcoat, a type of testa. Examples of seeds with a sarcotesta are pomegranate and some cycad seeds. The sarcotesta of pomegranate seeds consists of epidermal cells derived from the integument, and there are no aril
...
.
Range
This species grows in steep, rocky, misty valleys and woodlands. There are three known subpopulations, though one may have been
extirpated. The plant is threatened by overcollection.
There are 3 subpopulations found in:
*
Gwanda,
Matabeleland South
*
Mberengwa,
Midlands
The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...
*
Runde
Runde is an island in the municipality of Herøy, Møre og Romsdal, Herøy in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The island has a population of 113 people (as of 2015), and it is connected by the Runde Bridge to the island of Remøya to the south.
...
,
Masvingo
References
External links
''Encephalartos concinnus''.Tropicos.
*
*
concinnus
Plants described in 1969
Endemic flora of Zimbabwe
{{cycad-stub