Encephalartos laurentianus

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Encephalartos laurentianus
Encephalartos laurentianus, Jardin Botanico, Munich, Alemania 2012-04-21, DD 02.JPG
CITES Appendix I (CITES) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Gymnospermae
Division: Cycadophyta
Class: Cycadopsida
Order: Cycadales
Family: Zamiaceae
Genus: Encephalartos
Species:
E. laurentianus
Binomial name
Encephalartos laurentianus

Encephalartos laurentianus, commonly called the malele or Kwango giant cycad, is a species of cycad that is native to northern Angola and southern Democratic Republic of Congo, along their common border on the Kwango River. [2] [3]

Contents

Description

It is the largest of all cycads, [4] with multiple stems both upright and prostrate, each as much as 15 m (49 ft) in length, [2] and bearing a rosette of massive once-pinnate fronds 4–7 m (13–23 ft) in length, 70–100 cm (28–39 in) in width (the leaflets 35–50 cm (14–20 in) long and 4–7 cm (1.6–2.8 in) wide), and with a petiole or stalk up to 8 cm (3.1 in) thick where it joins the stem or trunk. Each stem can be up to 100 cm (39 in) thick. [2] [5] [6] [7] The pollen cones are 17–35 cm (6.7–13.8 in) long, and the seed cones 35–40 cm (14–16 in) long. [2] This is also said to be the fastest growing cycad, producing up to five "flushes" (rosettes, or clusters) of leaves each year. [8] The species was discovered in 1902 by Louis Gentil, [9] and named after the 19th century Belgian botanist Emile Laurent. [2]

References

  1. ↑ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Encephalartos laurentianus". Africa Outdoors. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  3. ↑ "Encephalartos laurentianus in Tropicos".
  4. ↑ "Encephalartos description". The Gymnosperm Database. 2025-02-22. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  5. ↑ ANNALES DU MUSEE DU CONGO Series 6 FLORE Vol. 1 (1904) p. 10.
  6. ↑ KEW BULLETIN Vol. 12 # 2 (1957) pp. 248-249.
  7. ↑ Douglas Goode, CYCADS OF AFRICA (Cape Town: Struik-Winchester, 1989) p. 240.
  8. ↑ <not stated>. "E. laurentianus" . Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  9. ↑ Gardener's Chronicle Volume 35 (3rd series) (11 June 1904) p. 370.


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