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Encephalartos lehmannii (Karoo Cycad) - A clump forming medium-sized evergreen cycad with a trunk that can grow 4 to 6 feet tall and 1 1/2 thick but is usually seen in cultivation as a plant that overall is 4 to 5 feet tall. The leaves are slightly recurved at the tip and the 3 to 6 inches long leaflets are blue-gray when young and darken a bit greener with age.
Plant in full sun in a well-draining soil. It has low watering needs and is hardy to below 25 F. This is one of the most drought tolerant and frost hardy of the Encephalartos that we grow. A large plant in an exposed site in our garden has withstood 25° F without any damage. It is also one of the most attractive of the gray foliage cycads.
Encephalartos lehmannii is native to the semi-arid sandstone slopes of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa where it experiences very hot and dry conditions in summer months and cold and wet conditions in winter. Frosts are common in this area. The name for the genus comes from Greek words 'en' meaning "within", 'kephali' meaning "head" and 'artos' meaning "bread" or "bread in head" which is a reference to the use of the starchy substance in the trunks of some species in times of desperation by African native tribes. The specific epithet honors the German botanist Professor Johann Georg Christian Lehmann who described several cycad species in 1834 and established the genus Encephalartos.
In cultivation this plant is most easily confused with Encephalartos princeps which was previously considered a form of Encephalartos lehmannii but was elevated to species level by Robert Allen Dyer in 1965. The two species differ in other ways but a simple diagnostic tool to identify these two is that Encephalartos lehmannii has it leaflets in the same plane so opposing leaflets can be folded together flat while Encephalartos princeps leaflets come together side to side.
The information displayed on this page about Encephalartos lehmannii is based on our research conducted about this plant from books in our nursery library as well as from information that is provided by reliable online resources. We also have included our own observations made about it as it grew in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers when we had them in our nursery field. We also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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