Encephalartos

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Genus of cycads in the family Zamiaceae

title: "Encephalartos" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["encephalartos", "taxa-named-by-johann-georg-christian-lehmann", "gymnosperm-genera"] description: "Genus of cycads in the family Zamiaceae" topic_path: "society/religion" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encephalartos" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of cycads in the family Zamiaceae ::

| image = Die Pflanzenwelt Afrikas, insbesondere seiner tropischen Gebiete - Grundzge der Pflanzenverbreitung im Afrika und die Charakterpflanzen Afrikas (1910) (20752115510).jpg | image_caption = a) habit of female E. hildebrandtii b) seed cone of the same, and c) seed cone of E. villosus | status = CITES_A1 | status_system = CITES | status_ref = | display_parents = 3 | parent_authority = Benth. & Hook.f. | taxon = Encephalartos | authority = Lehm. | range_map = Encephalartos_distribution.png | range_map_caption = | type_species =Encephalartos friderici-guilielmi | type_species_authority = Lehm.

Encephalartos is a genus of cycad native to Africa. Several species of Encephalartos are commonly referred to as bread trees, bread palms or kaffir bread, since a bread-like starchy food can be prepared from the centre of the stem. The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek ἐγκέφαλος (encéphalos), meaning "head", and ἄρτος (ártos), meaning "bread", referring to the use of the pith to make food. They are, in evolutionary terms, some of the most primitive living gymnosperms.

All the species are endangered, some critically, due to their exploitation by collectors and traditional medicine gatherers. The whole genus is listed under CITES Appendix I which prohibits international trade in specimens of these species except for certain non-commercial motives, such as scientific research.

Description

Several of the species possess stout trunks. In E. cycadifolius, the main trunks are up to 10 ft high, and several of them may be united at a base where a former main trunk once grew. The persistent, pinnate leaves are arranged in a terminal spreading crown, or ascending. The rigid leaflets are variously spiny or incised along their margins. The leaflets have a number of parallel veins and no central vein. The chromosome count is 2n=18. [[File:Bread tree 01.jpg|thumb|Encephalartos]]

Cones

Male cones are elongated, and three or four may appear at a time. Female cones are borne singly, or up to three at a time, and may weigh up to 60 lb. In some species, male cones with ripe pollen emit a nauseating odour. When the pollen has been shed and the males cones decay, a strong odour of acetic acid has also been noted.

Roots

Colonies of the cyanobacterium Nostoc punctiforme occur in apparent symbiosis inside the root tissue, while the rootlets produce root tubercles at ground level which harbour a mycorrhizal fungus of uncertain function, which is however suspected to facilitate the capturing of nitrogen from the air.

Food value

Human consumption

In several species the pith of the trunk contains a copious amount of high quality starch below the crown. This was formerly cut out by native people as food. Thunberg recorded around 1772 that the Khoekhoe removed the stem's pith at the crown and buried it wrapped in animal skin whence the vernacular name "broodboom" (i.e. bread tree). The burial of the pith apparently facilitated its fermentation and softening, In 1779 Paterson likewise found that the pith of a "large palm" near King William's Town was utilised by the Africans and Hottentots as bread. The pith was removed and left till sourish, before it was kneaded into bread.

Animal food

Their large seeds consist of an often poisonous kernel covered by an edible fleshy layer. Female cones are consequently destroyed by baboons, as they relish the pith around the seeds. Vervet monkeys, rodents and birds also feed on the seeds, but due to their unpredictable toxic qualities they are not recommended for human consumption.

Insects

The early larval instars of some aposematic, day-flying looper moths are specific to cycads, and genus Encephalartos is one of their food plants. They include the leopard magpie (most Encephalartos spp., other cycads, etc.), Millar's tiger (cultivated E. villosus), dimorphic tiger (cycads under forest canopy), spotted tigerlet (E. villosus), inflamed tigerlet (E. villosus), Staude's tigerlet (E. ngoyanus, cultivated E. villosus and Stangeria) and pallid grey (E. natalensis).

In cultivation various scale insects attack the leaves of the genus. These include cycad aulacaspis scale, zamia scale and latania scale.

Taxonomy

The genus was named by German botanist Johann Georg Christian Lehmann in 1834. All cycads except Cycas had been regarded as members of the genus Zamia until then, and some botanists continued to follow this line for many years after Lehmann had separated Encephalartos as a separate genus. His concept was originally much broader than the one accepted today, including also the Australian plants we now know as Macrozamia and Lepidozamia.

Species

::data[format=table]

Phylogeny of Encephalartos
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::data[format=table]

ImageLeavesScientific nameDistribution
[[File:Encephalartos aemulans furnas 2015.jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos aemulans 1zz.jpg120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos caffer.jpg120px]]Encephalartos afer
[[File:Encephalartos altensteinii, habitus, Pretoria.jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos Altensteinii.jpg120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos aplanatus furnas 2015.jpg120px]]Encephalartos aplanatus
[[File:Gardenology.org-IMG 0237 hunt07mar.jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos arenarius 1zz.jpg120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos barteri furnas 2015 (01).jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos barteri furnas 2015 (03).jpg120px]]
Encephalartos brevifoliolatusTransvaal, South Africa
[[File:Encephalartos bubalinus RBGK.JPG120px]]Encephalartos bubalinus
[[File:Encephalartos cerinus 5zz.jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos cerinus 4zz.jpg120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos chimanimaniensis furnas 2015.jpg120px]]Encephalartos chimanimaniensis
[[File:Encephalartos concinnus 5zz.jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos concinnus 4zz.jpg120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos cupidus KirstenboshBotGard09292010A.JPG120px]][[File:Encephalartos cupidus KirstenboshBotGard09292010B.jpg120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos cycadifolius - Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburg - DSC08067.JPG120px]]Encephalartos cycadifolius
Encephalartos delucanusRukwa Region of western Tanzania
[[File:Encephalartos dolomiticus, Manie van der Schijff BT.jpg120px]]Encephalartos dolomiticus
Encephalartos dyerianusnorthern Transvaal area, South Africa
[[File:Encephalartos equatorialis-IMG 9655.JPG120px]]Encephalartos equatorialis
[[File:Encephalartos eugene-maraisii, met keëls, e, Manie van der Schijff BT.jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos eugene-maraisii furnas 2015 (02).jpg120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos ferox (2943652983).jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos ferox01.jpg120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos friderici-guilielmi, habitus, Manie van der Schijff BT, a.jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos friderici-guilielmi furnas 2015 (02).jpg120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos ghellinckii02.jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos ghellinckii00a.jpg120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos gratus -female cones (9696404689).jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos gratus furnas 2015 (02).jpg120px]]
Encephalartos heenaniinorth of Eswatini and Mpumalanga Province in South Africa
[[File:Encephalartos hildebrandtii 4zz.jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos hildebrandtii A. Braun et Bouché - list.JPG120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos hirsutus-IMG 9648.JPG120px]][[File:Encephalartos hirsutus-IMG 8805.JPG120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos horridus - Villa Thuret - DSC04830.JPG120px]][[File:Encephalartos Horridus in Prague Botanical Garden DSC 0075.jpg120px]]
Encephalartos humilisMpumalanga, South Africa
[[File:Encephalartos inopinus, a, Manie van der Schijff BT.jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos inopinus 1zz.jpg120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos ituriensis furnas 2015.jpg120px]]Encephalartos ituriensis
[[File:Encephalartos kisambo kz2.JPG120px]][[File:Encephalartos kisambo furnas 2015 (02).jpg120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos laevifolius, habitus, Pretoria NBT, a.jpg120px]]Encephalartos laevifolius
[[File:Encephalartos lanatus, vier manlike keëls, Manie van der Schijff BT, a.jpg120px]]Encephalartos lanatus
[[File:Encephalartos latifrons KirstenboshBotGard09292010B.JPG120px]]Encephalartos latifrons
[[File:Encephalartos laurentianus kz3.JPG120px]][[File:Encephalartos laurentianus-Jardin botanique Meise (10).jpg120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos lebomboensis RBGK.JPG120px]]Encephalartos lebomboensis
[[File:Encephalartos lehmannii hd.JPG120px]]Encephalartos lehmannii
[[File:Encephalartos longifolius02.jpg120px]]Encephalartos longifolius
Encephalartos mackenzieiDidinga Hills of Namorunyang State, South Sudan
Encephalartos macrostrobilusMoyo District, northwestern Uganda
[[File:Encephalartos manikensis, habitus, Laeveld NBT.jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos manikensis furnas 2015 (03).jpg120px]]
Encephalartos marunguensisDemocratic Republic of the Congo (in the Marungu Mountains and on Muhila plateau) and Tanzania (about 100 km west of Marungu)
[[File:Encephalartos middelburgensis05.jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos middelburgensis01.jpg120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos msinganus furnas 2015.jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos msinganus 6zz.jpg120px]]
Encephalartos munchiicentral Mozambique
[[File:Encephalartos natalensis KirstenboshBotGard09292010B.JPG120px]][[File:Thousand Hills Cycad (Encephalartos natalensis) 1.jpg120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos ngoyanus en los invernaderos centrales del Jardín Botánico de Córdoba.jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos ngoyanus 2zz.jpg120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos nubimontanus furnas 2015 (01).jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos nubimontanus furnas 2015 (03).jpg120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos paucidentatus furnas 2015 (01).jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos paucidentatus furnas 2015 (03).jpg120px]]
Encephalartos poggeiDRC (Kasai Occidental, Shaba Province), Angola (Lunda Sul Province)
[[File:Encephalartos princeps, Manie van der Schijff BT.jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos princeps 2zz.jpg120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos pterogonus 3zz.jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos pterogonus furnas 2015 (01).jpg120px]]
Encephalartos relictusEswatini, South Africa
Encephalartos schaijesiinear Kolwezi in Shaba Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Encephalartos schmitziiLuapula River watershed, in Democratic Republic of the Congo (on the extreme south of the Kundelungu plateau, Shaba Province) and in Zambia (along the Muchinga escarpment in Luapula and Northern provinces). A subpopulation is also found in North-Western Province, Zambia, to the east of Solwezi
[[File:Encephalartos sclavoi 2zz.jpg120px]]Encephalartos sclavoi
[[File:Encephalartos senticosus, habitus, Walter Sisulu NBT.jpg120px]]Encephalartos senticosus
[[File:Encephalartos septentrionalis 0zz.jpg120px]]Encephalartos septentrionalis
[[File:Encephalartos tegulaneus 3zz.jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos tegulaneus 5zz.jpg120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos transvenosus, habitus, Manie van der Schijff BT.jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos travenosus furnas 2015 (02).jpg120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos trispinosus - Flora park - Cologne, Germany - DSC00777.jpg120px]]Encephalartos trispinosus
[[File:Encephalartos turneri.jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos turneri furnas 2015 (01).jpg120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos umbeluziensis furnas 2015.jpg120px]]Encephalartos umbeluziensis
[[File:Poor Man's Cycad (Encephalartos villosus) (45818958554).jpg120px]][[File:Encephalartos villosus Lehm. - listy.JPG120px]]
[[File:Encephalartos whitelockii 4zz.jpg120px]]Encephalartos whitelockii
[[File:Encephalartos woodii original stem Durban Botanic Gardens 04 09 2010.JPG120px]][[File:Encephalartos woodii medium shade leaf 12 09 2010.JPG120px]]
::

References

References

  1. "Appendices {{!}} CITES".
  2. (2019). "Bread tree, n. phr.". Dictionary Unit for South African English.
  3. (2019). "Bread palm, n. phr.". Dictionary Unit for South African English.
  4. (2019). "Kaffir-bread, n.". Dictionary Unit for South African English.
  5. (2002). "Trees and shrubs of Mpumalanga and Kruger National Park". Jacana.
  6. "''Encephalartos natalensis''". TreeSA.
  7. Smith, Christo Albertyn. (1966). "Common Names of South African Plants". The Government Printer.
  8. Van Bart, Martiens. (16 May 1987). "Kirstenbosch kweek nou ook broodbome vir die publiek". Die Burger.
  9. Palgrave, K.C.. (1984). "Trees of Southern Africa". Struik.
  10. (1995). "Life history and host range of the leopard magpie moth, Zerenopsis leopardina Felder (Lepidoptera: Geometridae)". African Entomology.
  11. (2004). "The cycads and cycad moths of Kwazulu-Natal". Peroniceras Press.
  12. (2005). "Armored scale insect pests of trees and shrubs: (Hemiptera: Diaspididae)". Cornell university press.
  13. Alice Notten. (May 2002). "''Encephalartos woodii'' Sander". Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden and South African National Biodiversity Institute.
  14. (2021). "Gene duplications and phylogenomic conflict underlie major pulses of phenotypic evolution in gymnosperms". Nature Plants.
  15. (2021). "main.dated.supermatrix.tree.T9.tre". Figshare.

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