Encephalartos arenarius grey-blue leaf

Encephalartos arenarius, the Alexandria cycad, is a medium-sized cycad that grows in sandy soil. It is often multi-stemmed due to the tendency of producing suckers. Some of the stems may be procumbent, sometimes partly underground.

There are two varieties: a comparatively common green-leaved one and a rare blue-leaved one. The green-leaved one has a bloom on the dull green leaves. The pinnae (leaflets attached to the sturdy central rachis) are sometimes curved towards the leaf tip. They may have one tooth on the upper margins, but the upper edges are mostly entire. There are up to three sometimes spine-tipped lobes on the lower margin of a leaflet. The leaf curls back (down) along its upper half.

Single cones are produced by E. arenarius. As always with cycads, the genders are separate on different plants, botanically referred to as being dioecious. The cones are greenish in colour, the seeds red and shiny when ripe (Coates Palgrave, 2002; www.florcomgardens.co.za).