''Encephalartos dolomiticus'', the Wolkberg cycad, is a

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

cycad Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk (botany), trunk with a crown (botany), crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants o ...

. It is only found in the

Wolkberg The Wolkberg is a mountain range in Tzaneen, Limpopo Province, South Africa. It is a northern termination and a subrange of the Drakensberg mountain range which lines up from Eastern Cape, Lesotho, Kwazulu Natal and Mpumalanga. At 2200 m ( ...

at elevations of 1100–1500 meters. The area is near

Penge Penge () is a suburb of South East Greater London, London, England, now in the London Borough of Bromley, west of Bromley, north east of Croydon and south east of Charing Cross. Etymology The name ''Penge'' is first attested in charter of ...

in southeastern

Limpopo Province Limpopo () is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a group of Tsonga settlers ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Description

It's a tree-like cycad, growing up to 2 m tall and 40 cm wide at its base, often with additional shoots sprouting from the bottom. Its bluish leaves form a crown at the top, reaching 60–80 cm in length, sometimes twisted. The lance-shaped leaflets, 12–17 cm long, angle oppositely along the rachis at 45°, with smooth margins and occasional small teeth on the lower side. The straight petiole has small spines. It's a dioecious species, with green ovoid male cones, 35–50 cm long and 10 cm wide. Female cones, 30–45 cm long and 18–25 cm wide, are of similar shape, with up to three growing on each plant. The macrosporophylls have a warty surface. Seeds are oblong, 30–35 mm long, covered by a yellow

sarcotesta The sarcotesta is a fleshy seedcoat, a type of testa. Examples of seeds with a sarcotesta are pomegranate, ginkgo ''Ginkgo'' is a genus of non-flowering seed plants, assigned to the gymnosperms. The scientific name is also used as the Eng ...

References

External links

* * dolomiticus Plants described in 1988 Flora of the Northern Provinces {{cycad-stub