Encephalartos hirsutus
Encephalartos hirsutus is a species of cycad that is native to Limpopo Province of South Africa. It was recorded from three separate localities on south-east-facing quartzite cliffs in the Makuya Nature Reserve bordering the Kruger National Park at elevations ranging from above sea level.
As of 2020, it is assumed there are up to 10 individuals in the wild.
Description
It is an arborescent cycad, with an erect stem, which becomes decumbent in older specimens, up to high and with a diameter of. The leaves, pinnate, arranged in a crown at the apex of the stem, are long, supported by a petiole about long, and composed of numerous pairs of elliptic leaflets and coriaceous, long, with entire margin and thorny apex, fixed on the rachis with an angle of about 40°, reduced to thorns towards the base of the petiole. It is a dioecious species, with male specimens that have from 2 to 5 cylindrical-ovoid cones, erect, about long and broad, and female specimens with 1–3 ovoid cones, about long and broad, of glaucous green color, glabrous. The seeds are coarsely ovoid, long, covered with an orange-red sarcotesta.
Threats
This species has effectively been extirpated in the wild due to over-collecting for ornamental purposes.