''Encephalartos hirsutus'' 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 ...
that is native to Limpopo Province,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
.
It was recorded from three separate localities on south-east-facing quartzite cliffs in the
Makuya Nature Reserve bordering the
Kruger National Park
Kruger National Park is a South African National Park and one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, and extends from north to south and from ea ...
at altitudes ranging from above sea level.
Description
It is an arborescent cycad, with an erect stem, which becomes decumbent in older specimens, up to high and with a diameter of .
The leaves, pinnate, arranged in a crown at the apex of the stem, are long, supported by a petiole about long, and composed of numerous pairs of elliptic leaflets and coriaceous, long , with entire margin and thorny apex, fixed on the rachis with an angle of about 40°, reduced to thorns towards the base of the petiole.
It is a dioecious species, with male specimens that have from 2 to 5 cylindrical-ovoid cones, erect, about long and broad, and female specimens with 1–3 ovoid cones, about long and broad, of glaucous green color, glabrous.
The seeds are coarsely ovoid, long, covered with an orange-red
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
In biology, an integu ...
.
Gallery
File:Encephalartos hirsutus-IMG 9649.JPG, Trunk
File:Encephalartos hirsutus-IMG 8805.JPG, Leaves
References
External links
*
*
hirsutus
Endemic flora of South Africa
Flora of the Northern Provinces
Trees of South Africa
Plants described in 1996
Critically endangered flora of Africa
{{cycad-stub