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 Congo (Zaire), mostly along the Kwango River. It is the largest of all cycads, with multiple stems both upright and prostrate, each as much as sixty feet (18 meters) in length, and bearing a rosette of massive once-pinnate fronds up to 25 feet (eight meters) in length, forty inches (102 cm) in width, and...
From the article Encephalartos laurentianus on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
It is the largest of all cycads, with multiple stems both upright and prostrate, each as much as 15 m (49 ft) in length, 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. The pollen cones are 17–35 cm (6.7–13.8 in) long, and the seed cones 35–40 cm (14–16 in) long. This is also said to be the fastest growing cycad, producing up to five "flushes" (rosettes, or clusters) of leaves each year. The species was discovered in 1902 by Louis Gentil, and named after the 19th century Belgian botanist Emile Laurent.
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
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Every page naming Encephalartos laurentianus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 135965.