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Wood's cycad

Encephalartos woodii

Wood's cycad
Photo: Purves, M., CC BY-SA 3.0

Wood's cycad is a palm-like cycad from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and one of the rarest plants in the world, known only from cultivated clones of a single male plant. It is grown as a specimen plant in warm, frost-free climates and is rarely available.

Family
Zamiaceae (Cycad family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Water deeply, then let the soil dry out between waterings; cycads tolerate drought once established.
Soil
Free-draining mix with added grit or sand.
Temperature
18-30 °C; protect below 5 °C
How easy
Moderate
Safety
Toxic: Seeds and other plant parts of cycads contain toxins that can cause vomiting and liver damage if eaten.
Native range
KwaZulu-Natal (Ngoye Forest)
Climate
subtropical

About

Encephalartos woodii, Wood's cycad, is a rare cycad in the genus Encephalartos, and is endemic to the oNgoye Forest of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is one of the rarest plants in the world, being extinct in the wild with all specimens being clones of the type. The specific and common name both honour John Medley Wood, curator of the Durban Botanic Garden and director of the Natal Government Herbarium of South Africa, who discovered the plant in 1895.

Other Encephalartos plants

Eastern Cape giant cycad · Zululand cycad · Eastern Cape blue cycad · Ground Cycad

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Encephalartos woodii 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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