Encephalartos longifolius

Encephalartos longifolius, the Suurberg cycad, comes from inland mountainous parts of the Eastern Cape, including the Langkloof, Baviaanskloof, the Kouga and Suurberg Mountains. Fortunately, a considerable part of this habitat is protected land, contributing to the plants conservation. The species is related to E. altensteinii although their distribution areas do not overlap.

The Suurberg cycad is a medium sized clumping cycad. The thickset stems may exceed 4 m in height. The commonly called Joubertina blue form is the rare one. The cone of E. longifolius is greenish brown with reddish, flattened hairs on its surface. Cones of this species are large, both male and female ones may be as long as 60 cm. The seed cones (female ones) get much thicker though, are egg-shaped and heavy. The pollen cones (the male ones) are narrow and cylindrical in shape. The seed cone mass of about 35 to 40 kg is believed to make it the heaviest cone borne by any of the South African cycads.

The seeds are bright red and toxic. There is a story that soldiers of the Commando of General Smuts, when short of food in the Suurberg during the Anglo-Boer War, tried to eat the seeds of this cycad and contracted food poisoning (Coates Palgrave, 2002; www.plantzafrica.com).