Encephalartos transvenosus crown

These long leaves and dense, many-leaved crown of an established Encephalartos transvenosus plant were eye-catching in the Pretoria National Botanical Garden.

Distinct “leaflet-less” leaf petioles are visible upon the stem tip. Leaf rachises are fairly straight here, sagging in the case of the oldest leaves still on the plant. Leaflet tips also tend to curve down. The top of the stem and its sides differ much in colour.

When the long leaves hang too low in the garden, they are sometimes cut off as in the photo, preventing a large patch of garden being taken over by cycad and unavailable for cultivation. In nature such pruning doesn't happen and the trees also get old (Coates Palgrave, 2002; iNaturalist).