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Encephalartos lebomboensis (Piet Retief Cycad) - A medium to large relatively fast growing cycad with single or multiple 1 foot thick stems which over time (many years) can grow to 13 feet long, often procumbent and topped with a crown of 40 to 60 inch long stiff and outwardly arching pinnate leaves with 7 inch long by inch wide lanceolate leaflets held at a right angle to the central rachis that are a dark glossy green color on the upper surface, lighter colored below and have sharp teeth well-spaced along the margins and with the leaf bases having numerous reduced leaf spines below the first leaflets. It will often form suckers from the base and occasionally will have offsets on the trunks. Male plants produce single or rarely a pair of narrow cylindrical 16- to 18-inch-long cones and female cones are about the same length but more barrel shaped.
Plant in full sun to light shade in a well-drained soil. It can withstand light frost but may be damaged by heavy frosts. This is a popular plant in cultivation because it is smaller than some of the other green South African Cycads such as Encephalartos natalensis and Encephalartos altensteinii.
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. This species was first described in 1949 by Dr Inez Verdoorn with its center of distribution in the Lebombo Mountains from northern KwaZulu-Natal through Swaziland and north into Mpumalanga and plants from these different habitats are slightly different. Plants from the central part of this range were also renamed Encephalartos senticosus in 1995 by Dr Piet Vorster based mainly on differences in their cone's scales and that Encephalartos senticosus produces multiple cones, while Encephalartos lebomboensis has mostly solitary cones. A dam project on the Pongola River in the 1970s resulted in many plants being rescued prior to habitat flooding and these entered the nursery trade as Encephalartos lebomboensis but were later determined to actually be Encephalartos senticosus. Encephalartos lebomboensis is listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as being "Endangered" because of its over-exploitation and the degradation of its habitat due to the encroachment of agricultural land and is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
The plants we grew were the form from Mananga, Mpumalanga and were nursery grown seedlings provided to us by Lourens Grobler of Afriorchids.
Information displayed on this page about Encephalartos lebomboensis is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will 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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