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Nile cycad

Encephalartos septentrionalis

Nile cycad
Photo: Photo by David J. Stang, CC BY-SA 4.0

Encephalartos septentrionalis, the Nile cycad, is a shrubby cycad from the seasonally dry tropics of Central Africa, with a partly underground stem and a crown of feather-like leaves. It is a slow-growing, long-lived plant that needs well-drained soil, plenty of warm sun and very little water.

Family
Zamiaceae (Cycad family)
Grows as
Shrub
Light
Full sun
Water
Water deeply but infrequently, letting the soil dry out fully between waterings, and water less in cooler months.
Soil
Free-draining mix, such as sandy loam with added grit or perlite.
Temperature
18–32 °C; protect below 10 °C
How easy
Moderate
Safety
Toxic: Seeds and other parts of cycads contain toxic compounds (cycasin and related compounds) that can cause serious illness if eaten.
Native range
Central African Rep. to S. Sudan and N. Uganda
Climate
seasonally dry tropical

About

Encephalartos septentrionalis, the Nile cycad, is a species of cycad in South Sudan, northern Uganda, northern Democratic Republic of the Congo (in the Okapi Faunal Reserve), and the interior of the Central African Republic.

Other Encephalartos plants

Cycad · Eastern Cape giant cycad · Cycad · Alexandria cycad · Cycad · Escarpment cycad · Lake Natron Cycad · Cycad · Chimanimani cycad · Runde cycad · Cycad · Winterberg Cycad

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Encephalartos septentrionalis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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