Encephalartos in South Africa

agavegreg · #1

I only got to see one Encephalartos in habitat while in South Africa last September so thought I'd share a couple of shots

Stan · #2

Great looking E.trispinosa? I have a hard time telling the difference between it and E.horrida. Nice little Euphorbia next to it.

agavegreg · #3

Stan wrote:Great looking E.trispinosa? I have a hard time telling the difference between it and E.horrida. Nice little Euphorbia next to it.

Same here, that's why I didn't put a species name up there. That, and I'm too lazy to figure it out by where we were.

It is E. horridus growing in the Springs Reserve just outside of Uitenhage near Port Elizabeth.

Stan · #4

That's ok. Looking forward to more pics Greg. Habitat photos are gold.

Tony C · #5

Stan wrote:Great looking E.trispinosa? I have a hard time telling the difference between it and E.horrida. Nice little Euphorbia next to it.

ID with out cones can be very difficult for sure.When in cone its easy Horridus has dark maroon/brown while Trispinousus has distinctive pale green cones .

agavegreg · #6

Thanks Tony. E. horridus it is. If I remember correctly, that's what I was told when given the directions there.

#7

Here are some Encephalartos horridus leaves ... note the complex twisting of the leaflets and at least 3 sharp tips.

: Encephalartos horridus another leaflet shot.jpg (119.07 KiB) Viewed 1949 times

: Encephalartos horridus leaf shot again Ll 14.jpg (112.36 KiB) Viewed 1949 times

: Encephalartos horridus leaves 2.JPG (101.48 KiB) Viewed 1949 times

: Encephalartos horridus female cone and nice leaves LL.jpg (159.07 KiB) Viewed 1949 times

: Encephalartos horridus leaf shot out of focus a bit.jpg (123.47 KiB) Viewed 1949 times

And these are leaflets of trispinosus... flatter and usually with less twists (though some will have a 90 degree twist, but generally only 2 spines then)