Common Names

Drakensberg cycad, Mont-aux-Sources cycad; isiDawu (Zulu) (Palmer & Pitman 1972).

Description

"The stem reaches a height of about 10 feet (roughly 3 m) and bears a somewhat open crown of straight or inward-curving leaves up to just over 3 feet (1 m) in length. These have very dense, pointed leaflets distinctively narrow - the middle ones less than [2-4 mm] wide - untoothed, with the margins rolled back, and bear a striking resemblance to fossil cycad leaflets of many million years ago. They are woolly and a greyish colour when young, becoming smoother and greenish-yellow or deep green with age. Two to 5 brown, densely woolly cones up to about [25 cm] long are borne together in the heart of the tree. The female cones, slightly shorter than the male, bear yellowish seeds. The cones resemble those borne by E. friderici-guilielmi Lehm. and E. cycadifolius (Jacq.) Lehm., but these species have broader leaflets" (Palmer & Pitman 1972).

Range

South Africa: "The mountains - often high mountains - from near Flagstaff in the Transkei to roughly Mont-aux-Sources in Natal" (Palmer & Pitman 1972).

Remarks

"The specific name honours M. Ed. de Ghellinch de Wolle, 'a noted amateur horticulturalist of Ghent'" (Palmer & Pitman 1972).

See Also

Jones (1993).

This page is from the Gymnosperm Database
URL: http://www.conifers.org/za/en/ghellinckii.htm
Edited by Christopher J. Earle
Last modified on 2005.11.27