Eastern Cape Giant Cycad, Encephalartos altensteinii, Zamiaceae. A Rare Primitive Plant from South Africa

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Eastern Cape Giant Cycad, Encephalartos altensteinii, Encephalartoideae, Zamiaceae, male specimen, cones, rare plant. The superb specimen of this cycad at Kew is one of the oldest pot plants in the world. It was collected in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa in the early 1770s and brought back to England in 1775 by Francis Masson one of Kews earliest plant collectors. For many years the plant was known as E longifolius but recent studies in South Africa have proved that it is E altensteinii. All the species of Encephalartos are endangered.

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Size: 5147px × 3398px
Location: South Africa.
Photo credit: © Florapix / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 3, africa, altensteinii, ancient, bread, brown, cape, cone, cycad, dioecious, eastern, encephalartoideae, encephalartos, endangered, flora, florapix, frond, giant, green, kaffir, leaf, leaves, male, orange, palm, palmlike, plant, primitive, rare, region, seed, south, tree, yellow, zamiaceae