Cycads; tough, ornamental, and just cool

Cycads are tough primative cone-bearing plants that require little water or care and have been around since dinosaur times. I never got to see the blue cycads that Quail Gardens had because they were stolen from Quail Gardens before I ever moved down here... But I have blue African (Encephalartos) cycads of my own now!

I think that the Encephalartos longifolius \"blue\" is one of the coolest. Encephalartos princeps is also really cool. And I love Encephalartos nubimontanus partly because it is so rare. I think that my E. nubimontanus came from a notorious Australian super criminal. He was extridited and criminally prosecuted in this country. He 'snuck' into national parks in Africa, hand-pollinated cycads with pollin collected from miles away, and then 'snuck' back in and stole the ripe seed. And finally he grew and shipped the plants to the US under less rare variety names -- in violation of CITES laws.

Encephalartos longifolius


Encephalartos princeps


Encephalartos nubimontanus \"giant cupidus\" (It's 'bluer' now that the leaves have \"hardened\")


Post edited by: RichP, at: 2007/09/02 01:06

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Check out this planting of Encephalartos lehmanii in a botanical garden in South Africa;)

Encephalartos horridus (Appropriately named for its wicked leaves) is another great \&quot;blue\&quot; African cycad. Doesn't it look like something from back around the time of the dinosaurs.

<br><br>Post edited by: RichP, at: 2007/09/02 03:30