Olifants River cycad
Encephalartos lanatus — the Olifants River cycad
Encephalartos lanatus grows on rocky ridges along the Olifants River system in Mpumalanga, in open highveld grassland. Its name means 'woolly', for the dense white wool that packs the crown and coats the emerging leaves.
About Encephalartos lanatus
It is a medium-sized species with short, stiff, blue-grey leaves and narrow leaflets, forming clumps of several stems with age. Highveld frost and grass fires are its normal conditions, so it is one of the easier species for an inland garden.
It remains reasonably well represented in the wild compared with the escarpment rarities, and nursery propagation is straightforward, which keeps prices sane and removes any excuse for buying undocumented material.
How to identify it
- Thick white wool in the crown and on new growth.
- Short, stiff, blue-grey leaves in a dense crown.
- Narrow leaflets, mostly entire, angled forward.
- Multi-stemmed clumps forming at ground level with age.
What drives the price
- Stem count and overall clump size.
- Crown density and wool.
- Blue-grey colour intensity.
- Verified identity against E. cycadifolius and E. friderici-guilielmi.
One of the more affordable protected Encephalartos at small and medium sizes, rising steadily for well-formed multi-stemmed clumps.
Permits and paperwork
Vulnerable and protected. A possession permit is needed by private sellers and a selling permit by nurseries; both are verified before a sale completes here.
Read the cycad sale rulesGrowing it
Full sun, gritty soil, dry winters. It is genuinely frost-hardy and does best on the Highveld. Do not plant it in rich, moisture-retentive soil.
E. lanatus questions buyers ask
Buy E. lanatus 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.
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