Encephalartos ferox

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Encephalartos ferox
Encephalartos ferox

Encephalartos ferox

Systematics
Order : Cycads (Cycadales)
Family : Zamiaceae
Subfamily : Encephalartoideae
Tribe : Encephalarteae
Genre : Bread palm ferns ( Encephalartos )
Type : Encephalartos ferox
Scientific name
Encephalartos ferox
G.Bertol.

Encephalartos ferox is a plant from the genus of encephalartos ( Encephalartos ) in the family Zamiaceae within the order of the cycads (Cycadales). The two subspecies since 2015 occur in southern Africa .

description

tribe
Pinnate leaf

Vegetative characteristics

The trunks are underground or tree-shaped, mostly solitary, rarely with root saplings at the base of the trunk. The leaf crown is usually at ground level, the growing trunk is pulled into the ground by contractile roots . An above-ground trunk with a height of 1 to 2 meters and a diameter of 30 to 35 centimeters is rarely formed.

The numerous leaves are glossy dark green. They are 1 to 2 meters long, 30 to 36 centimeters wide, straight or slightly curved. Young leaves are densely hairy, but fully grown leaves are glabrous. The petiole is 9 to 24 inches long. The leaflets have two to four small to large teeth on the edge and end in three to five piercing lobes at the tip.

Male cone

Generative characteristics

The female cones are single or up to three, in very old specimens up to five. The female cones are egg-shaped with a length of 25 to 50 centimeters and a diameter of 20 to 40 centimeters. Their color ranges from (rarely) yellow to orange to bright red. The stem is very short so that the cone appears seated. The lying on the side of the journal surface sporophyll is 15 to 18 millimeters high and 38 to 42 mm wide; it is wrinkled and ends in a distinct beak. The smooth, bright red sarcotesta of the seed at maturity is egg-shaped with a length of 44 to 50 millimeters and a diameter of 15 to 20 millimeters.

The male cones stand individually up to three, in large plant specimens up to ten. They are approximately cylindrical and 40 to 50 centimeters long with a diameter of 7 to 10 centimeters. The color is (rarely) yellow to pink or scarlet. The stem is 10 to 15 inches long. The side of the sporophyll lying on the cone surface is 9 to 12 millimeters high and 20 to 22 millimeters wide.

Systematics, botanical history and distribution

This species was discovered by the Italian plant collector Carlo Antonio Fornasini . The first description of Encephalartos ferox was in 1851 by Giuseppe Bertoloni in Mem. Reale Accad. Sci. Is. Bologna , 3, page 264. The specific epithet ferox means “wild” and alludes to the very thorny leaf leaflets. An (invalid) synonym for the species is Encephalartos kosiensis . In 1932 John Hutchinson described the species again using plants in Durban , without knowing the description of Encephalartos ferox .

Since 2015 there are two subspecies:

  • Encephalartos ferox subsp. emersus P.Rousseau, Vorster & AEvan Wyk : It was first described in 2015 from Mozambique.
  • Encephalartos ferox subsp. ferox : It occurs from Mozambique to KwaZulu-Natal . It occurs in southern Africa from Zululand and the northeast from KwaZulu-Natal to the Sordwana Bay, about 650 km north of Maputo , Mozambique . It grows in coastal bushes on stable sand dunes, but also further inland, then in the shade of higher vegetation. The climate is hot and humid, frost-free, with annual rainfall of 1000 to 1250 mm, which mainly falls in summer. Deforestation in South Africa and increasing population pressure have led to a decline in stocks.

use

In the past, strength was obtained from the marrow of the tribe . Encephalartos ferox is one of the most common cycads in botanical gardens and other collections. The reasons lie in the easy care and in its colorful cones.

literature

  • Loran M. Whitelock: The Cycads. Timber Press, Portland OR 2002, ISBN 0-88192-522-5 , pp. 193 f.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Rafaël Govaerts, 2001: World Checklist of Seed Plants Database in ACCESS EF , 1-50919. Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Encephalartos ferox. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved June 6, 2020.

Web links

Commons : Encephalartos ferox  - Collection of images, videos and audio files