About
Encephalartos lebomboensis, the Lebombo cycad, is an endangered cycad of the Lebombo Mountains region, described in 1949 by Inez Verdoorn.
Care at a glance
- Pet safety
- Not recorded. We have no source on whether this plant is safe for cats, dogs or other pets — that is not the same as safe. Keep it out of reach until you have checked.
- People
- Not recorded.
- Light
- Grows in sunny positions in the wild.
- Mature size
- Up to about 4 m tall; leaves 1–1.5 m long.
Field notes
Morphology
A trunk up to 4 m tall and 30 cm thick, usually unbranched but suckering to form clumps. Stiff leaves 1–1.5 m long are glossy dark green above and paler below, hairy at first. Serrated leaflets up to 18 cm long sit at right angles to the midrib.
Distribution & habitat
Two populations, near Mananga in Mpumalanga and around Piet Retief in the upper Pongola valley; also in Mozambique and Eswatini. It grows in sun on cliffs and steep rocky slopes, with hot wet summers and cool, misty, dry winters.
History & etymology
The southern form was split off as Encephalartos senticosus in 1996.
Conservation
About 5,000 plants are thought to remain in the wild. Listed as Endangered by the IUCN because of collecting and habitat degradation.
Habitat
- Altitude
- Not recorded
- Altitude class
- —
- Native to
- South Africa, Mozambique, Eswatini
Cultivation
- Difficulty
- Not recorded
Text adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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