Encephalartos altensteinii
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Encephalartos altensteinii |
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Encephalartos altensteinii is a member of the cycads (Cycadales) and belongs to the genus of bread palm ferns ( Encephalartos ).
features
The trunks are erect, tree-shaped, sometimes prostrate when growing in flat soils and on steep slopes. The trunk reaches a height of 5 m and a diameter of 25 to 35 cm. It is light brown and has striking leaf scars.
The leaves are numerous, light to yellow-green, usually straight, rarely curved backwards to downwards. They are simply pinnate, 1.5 to 2 meters long and up to 35 cm wide. The petiole is 10 to 30 cm long and unreinforced. The leaflets are in 100 or more pairs, are lanceolate, are evenly spaced at an angle of 30 to 40 ° to the front. The lower leaflets are smaller but not thorny. The middle leaflets are 12.5 to 17 cm long. The young leaflets have no to three thorns on the edge, while adult plants have no or one terminal thorn (except for the plants from the Bushmans River).
The female cones are solitary or up to five. They are cylindrically egg-shaped, 40 to 50 cm long and 20 to 30 cm in diameter. The color ranges from greenish yellow to golden yellow. The stem is very short so that the cone appears seated. The side of the sporophyll on the surface of the cones is 3.5 cm high, 4.5 to 5 cm wide, deeply wrinkled and slightly hairy. The sarcotesta of the seed is scarlet to bright red at maturity, egg-shaped, 29 to 33 mm long, 19 to 21 mm in diameter and smooth, but with 11 to 13 longitudinal furrows.
The male cones stand individually up to five. They are approximately cylindrical, 40 to 50 cm long with a diameter of 12 to 15 cm. The color is greenish yellow to golden yellow. The stem is 5 to 10 cm long and 4 to 5 cm in diameter. The side of the sporophyll lying on the cone surface is 12 mm high and 20 to 28 mm wide; it has a beak 1.5 to 2 cm long, curved downwards. The sporangia cover the entire underside of the sporophyll.
The species is quite variable, especially in terms of thorns.
Distribution and locations
The species occurs in South Africa; the area extends from the Bushmans River in the eastern Cape Province to the north and east almost to the border of KwaZulu-Natal .
Here the species grows in low coastal bushes and forests from sea level up to 250 m above sea level, often in fully sunny locations, in the forest but also in full shade. The annual rainfall is between 875 and 1000 mm and falls mainly in summer. The climate is hot in summer, cold in winter, with rare frosts. The species is a common plant in its area and is not considered to be endangered.
use
The species is often kept in botanical gardens and by collectors due to its simple keeping and its appearance. It is an ubiquitous ornamental outdoor plant in the Eastern Cape Province.
Botanical history and systematics
The species is named after the Prussian statesman Karl vom Stein zum Altenstein (1770–1840). It was first described by Johann Georg Christian Lehmann in 1834 using material that Christian Friedrich Ecklon and Carl Ludwig Philipp Zeyher had collected in the 1820s. One specimen, the oldest known in culture, has been in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew since 1777 - designated Encephalartos longifolius .
The closest related species are Encephalartos lebomboensis , Encephalartos longifolius and Encephalartos natalensis . It is also the species within the genus that most hybrids are known of.
literature
- Loran M. Whitelock: The Cycads. Timber Press, Portland OR 2002, ISBN 0-88192-522-5 .
Individual evidence
Web links
- Encephalartos on Cycad Pages of the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, accessed April 25, 2008.
- Encephalartos altensteinii inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: Donaldson, JS, 2009. Retrieved April 28, 2014.