Encephalartos aplanatus

Encephalartos aplanatus, with its twisted and undulate leaflets, gets its name from the Latin meaning “not flat.” Encephalartos aplanatus was described in 1996 by a South African botanist, Prof. Piet Vorster. Although it has similar cones and growth habit to E. villosus, studies of pollinating insects have shown that it is pollinated by a different species of insect, supporting its separation as a different species. In addition - it has larger and longer dark green leaves (up to 11 ½ feet long) with longer clear petioles and larger leaflets (up to 12” long) with more marginal teeth and that are more twisted than E. villosus. The stem is also sometimes raised above ground - whereas the stem of E. villosus is always underground. Also, while E. villosus may often form suckers, E. aplanatus does not.

E. aplanatus occurs only in a small area in the north eastern part of Swaziland - in the shade of deciduous - fairly dry ravine forest. It is not known to occur with E. villosus or E. umbeluziensis. Only one colony is known to exist.