Encephalartos lebomboensis

Encephalartos lebomboensis, commonly the Piet Retief cycad, grows stems up to 4 m long and 30 cm in diameter (SA Tree List No. 14.8). 

The photo shows a plant with cones at the end of April (autumn in South Africa). The area received extraordinarily much late summer rain. This has caused a “premature” and robust growth of new leaves to appear in the centre among the cones, unusual as new leaves normally only grow during the next summer following the production of cones. Cones are usually solitary adornment in the hub of the stem through the next winter. Cone colour is yellow or salmon pink. Some seeds have already been released at the top of the cone. Up to three cones may be produced in a season. The male cones are much narrower than female ones as is usual for cycads. The seeds are bright red.

The species distribution is only in the far north of KwaZulu-Natal and the far east of Mpumalanga, as well as in eSwatini and the south of Mozambique.

The habitat is summer rainfall sourveld, grassland and bushveld on cliffs and in rocky gorges, near rivers and on mountains at elevations from 500 m to 1000 m. The habitat population is deemed endangered early in the twenty first century, due to plant collection and range restrictedness. One form of the plant is deemed critically endangered (Coates Palgrave 2002; iNaturalist; www.plantzafrica.com; www.florcomgardens.co.za; http://redlist.sanbi.org).