Encephalartos lehmannii
Encyclopedia
Encephalartos lehmannii is a low-growing palm
-like cycad
in the family Zamiaceae
. It is commonly known as the Karoo cycad and is endemic to South Africa
. The species name lehmannii commemorates Prof J.G.C. Lehmann
, a German botanist who studied the cycads and published a book on them in 1834. This cycad is listed as near threatened in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
mainly on dry sandstone slopes and ridges where it grows amongst low succulent herbs and shrubs. By flourishing in such an arid environment it demonstrates how the cycad race has endured through the ages, seemingly immune to drought when many other tree species such as the cabbage trees
and taaibos
are leafless and sometimes dead.
Arecaceae
Arecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...
-like cycad
Cycad
Cycads are seed plants typically characterized by a stout and woody trunk with a crown of large, hard and stiff, evergreen leaves. They usually have pinnate leaves. The individual plants are either all male or all female . Cycads vary in size from having a trunk that is only a few centimeters...
in the family Zamiaceae
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 warm temperate regions of Africa, Australia and North and South America....
. It is commonly known as the Karoo cycad and is endemic to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. The species name lehmannii commemorates Prof J.G.C. Lehmann
Johann Georg Christian Lehmann
Johann Georg Christian Lehmann was a German botanist.Born at Haselau, near Uetersen, Holstein, Lehmann studied medicine in Copenhagen and Göttingen, obtained a doctorate in medicine in 1813 and a doctorate in philosophy from he University of Jena in 1814...
, a German botanist who studied the cycads and published a book on them in 1834. This cycad is listed as near threatened in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Description
This cycad grows up to two metres tall with a trunk diameter of up to forty five centimetres and may be branched or unbranched. The leaves are up to one hundred and fifty centimetres long, blue or silver and strongly keeled. The leaflets are lanceolate, do not overlap each other and have smooth margins. The male cones are green or brown and up to thirty five centimetres long. The female cones are a similar colour and up to fifty centimetres long. The seeds are red and up to four and a half centimetres long.Distribution and habitat
This species is found in Eastern Cape Province, South AfricaSouth Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
mainly on dry sandstone slopes and ridges where it grows amongst low succulent herbs and shrubs. By flourishing in such an arid environment it demonstrates how the cycad race has endured through the ages, seemingly immune to drought when many other tree species such as the cabbage trees
Cussonia spicata
Cussonia spicata is a tree in the Araliaceae family.It occurs naturally in southern Africa and into tropical Africa....
and taaibos
Rhus pyroides
Rhus pyroides is a species of Rhus, native to southern Africa...
are leafless and sometimes dead.