Encephalartos natalensis

Encephalartos natalensis, the giant cycad and sometimes the Natal giant cycad, is a small tree but a giant among cycads, generally reaching about 4 m in height and occasionally 6,5 m (SA Tree List No. 10). The plant often forms clumps. Old stems may be up to 40 cm in diameter.

Young leaves and new cones endow the crown of the tree with a woolly appearance for a limited period. This hairiness differentiates it from E. altensteinii and E. senticosus, the two species that resemble it most. According to some authorities the three constitute geographical forms of the same species.

The species distribution is mainly in KwaZulu-Natal coastal area and the Valley of a Thousand Hills, southwards to the northeastern extreme of the Eastern Cape.

The habitat is the rocky valleys and forest margins. At least one specimen with an estimated age of a thousand years is growing here. Many magnificent trees of this species hide among the rocky crags for hikers to admire. The habitat population is considered vulnerable early in the twenty first century, due to plant collection, also from bark collection for traditional medicine use, as well as due to habitat destruction (Coates Palgrave, 2002; iNaturalist; www.wild-about-you.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).