Encephalartos altensteinii stem-tip

The Encephalartos altensteinii stem-tip surface has overlapping patches of a pale, scale-like covering serving as bark. Among these patches the leaf petioles are firmly anchored by thick, flattened and rounded basal parts, protruding spaced upon the rounded stem-tip. There is nothing woolly about the stem-tip of this species.

The first and smallest leaflets begin to appear laterally from the rachises in proper leaf-shapes, not prickles. The heavy leaves are kept in position for long periods by these short and sturdy petioles that curve out at the base. The sturdy rachises point leaves outwards and steadily in many directions, protecting the pale yellow female cones ripening slowly in the centre (Hugo, 2014; Coates Palgrave, 2002; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997; Pooley, 1993).