Encephalartos villosus
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Encephalartos villosus |
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| Lemaire |
Encephalartos villosus is a member of the cycads (Cycadales) and belongs to the genus of bread palm ferns ( Encephalartos ). The specific epithet villosus means hairy and refers to the dense woolly hairs of the crown and the young leaves.
features
The trunks are mainly underground, more or less spherical and rarely protrude more than 15 cm from the ground. They have a diameter of 20 to 30 cm. Many-headed clumps are formed in older specimens by root shoots. The crown is covered with woolly hair. The roots are numerous, thick, bulbous and contractile. The cataphylls are densely hairy, around 63 mm long and 25 mm wide.
The mostly 10 to 20 leaves are upright, partly curved, light to medium glossy green, 1.5 to 3 m long, 40 to 50 cm wide, flat. Young leaves are densely hairy with white hair. The petiole is 5 to 25 cm long. The leaflets are 20 to 25 cm long, 1 to 2 cm wide, lanceolate, sickle-shaped and have 0 to several thorns . Towards the base, the leaflets are reduced in length and end in a row of thorns.
The female cones stand individually up to four. They are barrel-shaped, 40 to 50 cm long with a diameter of 16 to 20 cm. The color at maturity is bright yellow to apricot-yellow. The stem is 75 to 138 mm long. The sporophylls have a serrated lower edge that overlaps with the sporophyll below. The side of the sporophyll lying on the cone surface is 40 to 63 mm high and 31 to 55 mm wide. The sarcotesta of the seed is scarlet at maturity. The sclerotesta is flattened long and ovate, 28 to 31 mm long, 14 to 17 mm in diameter, with 9 to 12 distinct longitudinal ribs, in between a network of numerous indistinct furrows.
The male cones stand individually up to four. They are long conical, 40 to 60 cm long with a diameter of 8 to 10 cm. The color is pale yellow to yellow-green. The stem is 6 to 16 cm long. The sporophylls are 3 to 3.5 cm long. The side of the sporophyll lying on the cone surface is 10 to 14 mm high and 25 to 34 mm wide. The sporangia cover the entire underside of the sporophyll with the exception of a sterile leaf margin.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 18.
Distribution and locations
The species is native to South Africa. It comes from the Eastern Cape Province , near East London , eastwards through Transkei and KwaZulu-Natal to the southeastern areas of Mpumalanga and Swaziland . They grow in the subtropical coastal belt in low forests up to temperate areas with mild winters, from sea level to 300 m above sea level. The precipitation is 1000 to 1250 mm annually, which mostly falls in summer.
It is one of the most common species in South Africa and one of the few species that prefers shady locations. Loss of location and the picking up of plants have reduced the numbers, but the species is still not considered endangered.
use
It is a popular garden plant in South Africa.
Systematics
The closest relatives of Encephalartos villosus are Encephalartos aplanatus and Encephalartos umbeluzensis . It forms natural hybrids with Encephalartos lebomboensis , as well as with Encephalartos altensteinii .
literature
- Loran M. Whitelock: The Cycads. Timber Press, Portland OR 2002, ISBN 0-88192-522-5 , pp. 240 f.
Individual evidence
Web links
- Encephalartos villosus on the Cycad Pages of the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney.
- Encephalartos villosus inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: Donaldson, JS, 2009. Retrieved April 28, 2014.