Encephalartos whitelockii

Description

Encephalartos whitelockii is a species of cycad that is native to Uganda. The area of this species is restricted to the southwestern part of Uganda (Kabarole District). The only known populations are found along the Mpanga River, before its outlet at Lake George, at altitudes between 1,000 and 1,300 m. Encephalartos whitelockii is endemic to a single location, where it forms one of the largest and most impressive cycad populations in Africa in Kamwenga District of the southwestern part of Uganda (possibly the largest single cycads colony in Africa). Populations occur along the Mpanga River, above and below the Mpanga River Falls, just before it runs into Lake George. The population size of E. whitelockii is estimated to be 8,000 mature individuals. This species has a small extent of occurrence and area of occupancy. Encephalartos whitelockii is a large, spectacular, evergreen, arborescent cycad up to 4 metre tall. Each stem is topped with a crown of long, stiff, dark green, glossy fronds which curve gently backwards. The fronds are composed by falcate, well-spaced, dentate leaflets that curve towards the frond apex and carry more than 3 teeth on each margin. The teeth on the lower margin are also well-spaced rather than crowded to the base. The bluish-green cones with smooth scale apices, the sessile seed cones and the long-stalked, often pendulous pollen cones are also distinctive. The reproductive organs take the form of cones, similar in appearance to those of a conifer, with the male and female cones being borne on separate plants. Male plants of E. whitelockii produce up to five, pendulous, bluish-green cones per stem, while female plants produce up to three, bluish-green egg-shaped cones. E. whitelockii is a long-lived, slow growing plant that always occur as individual male or female plants. There is no way of determining the sex of a cycad until it begins to produce its first cone