Encephalartos ferox ferox

Description

The plant usually has a very rough,unbranched trunk,but in favorable conditions it can reach 2 m in height and 25-30 cm in diameter.The leaves,pennate,are arranged in rosette at the apex of the stem and are 100 to 200 cm long.They are of dark green,bright,and consist of several pairs of leaves with a characteristic spinous margin,inserted 45-80 ° on a central,green and slightly bent spine,with a spinous pinch.Male specimens usually have 1 to 3 cones but in some mature specimens they can present up to 10 simultaneously.They are fusiform,40-50 cm long,generally red scarlet;in some locations in Mozambique,colonies of E.ferox have been described as producing gold-colored gold cones;However,there are well-founded doubts as to whether it is a very similar taxon,still not properly classified.Female cones,present in numbers from 1 to 5,are ovoid,long 25 cm to 50 cm and a diameter of 20-40 cm.Each cone can contain up to 500 seeds,about 4 cm long,with red sarcotesta.