Encephalartos gratus

[redbeard917]

I saw an Encephalartos gratus in the USF botanical garden. It stood out among other cycads. Large, impressive, and attractive foliage.

[redbeard917]

In this pic, the E. gratus stands tall over the other cycads. Anyone else got pics of this species?

[Kailua_Krish]

The USF one is quite nice. I wonder how much freeze tolerance they have under canopy? I have a small one I got after seeing this plant but Im curious as to its long term prospects in 9a.

[cycadjungle]

Plants under cover will get their leaves burned at 23f. They flush again in the spring. 4 years ago I had 11 days in the teens with the low at 15f and it flushed in the spring. Just in case, I covered the stem with dirt to protect the stem. I think for us, 15f is where you could have stem damage.

[Kailua_Krish]

Thanks! Sounds like they should be good landscape plants here. I can tolerate the occasional defoliation. I recently happened upon 20 seeds so will plant these around.

[virtualpalm]

This is a very impressive species and a good grower in Florida. Here are a few shots that I have taken locally.

[cycadjungle]

Thanks! Sounds like they should be good landscape plants here. I can tolerate the occasional defoliation. I recently happened upon 20 seeds so will plant these around.

That is the way hard core cycad collectors here in central Florida have to think. My outside female gratus has 3 1/2 feet of trunk. I also have a coning pair of hilldebrandtii outside too. If I ever get a chance to put large cycads on the south side of the house, I'll be putting in whitelockiis, ituriensis, and ask the other, even less cold hardy encephs. I may never get the chance though. If someone comes in and wants to buy my huge collection plants, I'll sell them instead of planting them out. I'd rather sell them as opossed to seeing them get bulldozed like what has happened with other people when they die. Tom

[Kailua_Krish]

Thanks! Sounds like they should be good landscape plants here. I can tolerate the occasional defoliation. I recently happened upon 20 seeds so will plant these around.

That is the way hard core cycad collectors here in central Florida have to think. My outside female gratus has 3 1/2 feet of trunk. I also have a coning pair of hilldebrandtii outside too. If I ever get a chance to put large cycads on the south side of the house, I'll be putting in whitelockiis, ituriensis, and ask the other, even less cold hardy encephs. I may never get the chance though. If someone comes in and wants to buy my huge collection plants, I'll sell them instead of planting them out. I'd rather sell them as opossed to seeing them get bulldozed like what has happened with other people when they die. Tom

Ive thought about this quite a bit as my garden is at my parents and I may not chose to live in Florida one day. I hope that either the city will accept a donation of the plants or that I could get Kanapaha in Gainesville to take them. I have quite a few smaller cycads like this.

Jody, those are spectacular photos! How old would you say a plant that size is?

Edited January 9, 2015 by krishnaraoji88

[virtualpalm]

The one in the photo flushing leaves has about 3 feet of trunk and it is around 20 years old. They are fast growers.

[redbeard917]

The one at the Edison winter home in Fort Myers is a beast. Hard to get scale from this pic, but it dwarfs those coonties.

[redbeard917]

Er, obviously it dwarfs a coontie. I meant the width of the trunk, which is larger than that of other nearby cycads.