Zululand cycad

This was actually a difficult photo as this potted cycad sits on a waist-high bench in the greenhouse. So I had to climb up on the bench, steady myself and hold my point-and-shoot over the near-side leaves to shoot down into the center of the leaf rosette. The new growth in the bottom is reminiscent of the new growth in another cycad I've posted, https://365project.org/rhoing/365/2017-04-19

Species page at PhytoImages, http://phytoimages.siu.edu/cgi-bin/dol/dol_terminal.pl?taxon_name=Encephalartos_ferox&rank=binomial

Photo taken at SIUC Plant Biology Greenhouse, http://www.plantbiology.siu.edu/facilities/plant-biology-facilities/greenhouse/index.php

[ DSCN4570S100x75Atm :: P&S ]

[Lisa Pouncy]

Take care now. I hope that bench wasn't wobbly ;) xx

[Maggiemae]

You mustn't really know if it has focused properly! A very good result - those prickly leaves look deadly to falling photographers!

[Jane Anderson]

It looks woody like a pinecone. Is it?

[Thom Mitchell]

@janeandcharlie Very much so! See http://phytoimages.siu.edu/imgs/paraman1/r/Zamiaceae_Encephalartos_ferox_1420.html

[Thom Mitchell]

@maggiemae They are *very* nasty-sharp! To the extent that Wikipedia can be trusted, “It gets its name from the Latin word ferocious, likely from the spine-tipped lobes on the leaves of the plant.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encephalartos_ferox

[Rick Schies]

Well you had a steady hand Thom.