Encephalartos villosus
Family: Zamiaceae
Region: South Africa, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal provinces.
Habitat: coastal forests, wooded valleys, shaded areas, in well-drained, sandy soils; thrives in both full sun and partial shade.
Uses: ornamental, for resilience.
Cultural: significance in traditional practices among some South African communities.
Content: cycasin; beta-N-methylamino-levoalanine or BMAA.
Botany:
Shrub; low-growing; evergreen; forming a clump of several stems, up to 2 meters in length; slow-growing.
Root: thick; fleshy; store water and nutrients.
Leaves: pinnate; arching; up to 2 meters long; leaflets dark green, leathery, covered with fine hairs.
Inflorescence: cones, dioecious.
Flowers: cones; female cones are large and can weigh several kilograms; male cones are smaller and more slender.
Fruits: cones.
Seeds; large; bright orange to red, and are enclosed within the female cone.