Wolkberg cycad
Encephalartos dolomiticus — the Wolkberg cycad
Encephalartos dolomiticus grows on dolomite outcrops in the Wolkberg region of Limpopo, which is exactly where the name comes from. It is a blue-leaved, medium-sized species and one of a tight cluster of related Limpopo blues that regularly get muddled in the trade.
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About Encephalartos dolomiticus
Mature plants build a stout stem to a couple of metres and carry stiff, blue-grey leaves with narrow, spined leaflets. The overall impression is closer to E. eugene-maraisii than to the Eastern Cape blues, and separating the Limpopo blues by photograph alone is genuinely difficult.
Wild numbers are very low and the species is critically endangered. Anything for sale should be nursery-propagated with paperwork, and an independent expert opinion on identity is worth the cost given how easily a mislabelled plant is sold at the wrong price.
How to identify it
- Stiff, blue-grey leaves, straight to slightly recurved.
- Narrow leaflets with a few sharp marginal spines, angled forward.
- Stout stem to roughly 2 m, occasionally suckering.
- Green to brownish cones with a light bloom.
What drives the price
- Verified identification within the Limpopo blue group.
- Stem height and caudex girth.
- Colour consistency across the crown.
- Documented propagation history and permit trail.
Prices are firmly in collector territory. Because misidentification is common, a verified plant with a certificate typically resells far more easily than an unverified one at the same asking price.
Permits and paperwork
Critically endangered and protected. A possession permit is required of private sellers and a selling permit of nurseries; both are attached to the listing and released securely to the buyer.
Read the cycad sale rulesGrowing it
Full sun, very sharp drainage, alkaline-tolerant. Summer rainfall pattern: water in the warm months, keep dry in winter. Tolerates dry cold but dislikes wet cold.
E. dolomiticus questions buyers ask
Buy E. dolomiticus with the identification proven
Independent experts confirm the species, measurements and condition before a plant is marked verified, and every verified plant carries a Cycad Certificate recording its identity and each change of ownership.
Registered E. dolomiticus certificates
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