Encephalartos laurentianus, commonly called the malele or Kwango giant cycad, is a species of cycad that is native to northern Angola and southern Congo (Zaire), mostly along the Kwango River.[2]
| Encephalartos laurentianus | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Gymnospermae |
| Division: | Cycadophyta |
| Class: | Cycadopsida |
| Order: | Cycadales |
| Family: | Zamiaceae |
| Genus: | Encephalartos |
| Species: | E. laurentianus
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| Binomial name | |
| Encephalartos laurentianus | |
Description edit
It is the largest of all cycads, with multiple stems both upright and prostrate, each as much as sixty feet (18 meters) in length,[3] and bearing a rosette of massive once-pinnate fronds up to 25 feet (eight meters) in length, forty inches (100 cm) in width, and with a petiole or stalk up to three inches (7.6 cm) thick where it joins the stem or trunk. Each stem can be up to four feet (120 cm) in thickness.[4][5][6] This is also said to be the fastest growing cycad, producing up to five "flushes" (rosettes, or clusters) of leaves each year.[7] The species was discovered in 1902 by Louis Gentil.
References edit
- ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
- ^ "Encephalartos laurentianus in Tropicos".
- ^ "Encephalartos laurentianus Plants - Encephalartos Species".
- ^ ANNALES DU MUSEE DU CONGO Series 6 FLORE Vol. 1 (1904) p. 10.
- ^ KEW BULLETIN Vol. 12 # 2 (1957) pp. 248-249.
- ^ Douglas Goode, CYCADS OF AFRICA (Cape Town: Struik-Winchester, 1989) p. 240.
- ^ <not stated>. "E. laurentianus". Retrieved July 15, 2014.
External links edit
Media related to Encephalartos laurentianus at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Encephalartos laurentianus at Wikispecies
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