Cycad cones and flushes

[GeneAZ]

That sclavoi blood really improves the whitelockii looks!

[Josue Diaz]

Ceratozamia robusta (C. Mexicana var. robusta)

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

A few stangeria cones. One male and one female for your viewing pleasure.  

[5150cycad]

10 hours ago, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

A few stangeria cones. One male and one female for your viewing pleasure.  

That’s something you don’t see every day. Very exciting. 

[JubaeaMan138]

Update on the whitelockii x sclavoi great looking flush on this guy. Sclavoi on steroids !!!

[Tracy]

I believe this is an Encephalartos natalensis with the pup bearing the cones below.  We stumbled across a few older Encephalartos species while wondering through the Park at Pena National Palace in Sintra, just west of Lisbon Portugal.  I made my wife stand adjacent for perspective on size.  I provided a close up of the cones and leaf detail as well if you think it is other than natalensis.  Bottom line, one can see why some people get these mature older Encephalartos confused with "palms".

[Tracy]

Another mature older Encephalartos with it's cone breaking apart showing colorful red seeds.  I'm guessing this one is Encephalartos altenstenii.  None of the plants in this very large garden consisting of a few hectares below the palace, had any plant labels.  My wife demonstrating that these can make decent shade plants if you give them enough time.  I don't think I'll be lucky enough to see any shade from any of my Encephalartos in my life; perhaps I'll live long enough to get some shade from a few of my Cycas before I die.

[5150cycad]

6 hours ago, Tracy said:

Another mature older Encephalartos with it's cone breaking apart showing colorful red seeds.  I'm guessing this one is Encephalartos altenstenii.  None of the plants in this very large garden consisting of a few hectares below the palace, had any plant labels.  My wife demonstrating that these can make decent shade plants if you give them enough time.  I don't think I'll be lucky enough to see any shade from any of my Encephalartos in my life; perhaps I'll live long enough to get some shade from a few of my Cycas before I die.

Great pictures Tracy thanks for sharing. Those are some monster cycads. 

[dmc]

Dioon mejiae

[Palm Tree Jim]

16 hours ago, Tracy said:

Another mature older Encephalartos with it's cone breaking apart showing colorful red seeds.  I'm guessing this one is Encephalartos altenstenii.  None of the plants in this very large garden consisting of a few hectares below the palace, had any plant labels.  My wife demonstrating that these can make decent shade plants if you give them enough time.  I don't think I'll be lucky enough to see any shade from any of my Encephalartos in my life; perhaps I'll live long enough to get some shade from a few of my Cycas before I die.

Definitely some age on the cycads.

 

[Tracy]

Something else we aren't used to seeing is epiphytes on Cycads.  Some sort of fern growing on this Encephalartos longifolius.  My wife was having fun making fun of me with my big grin when I found this one, so she had to mimic me.  The flush on this one was just hardening off.  I'm now waiting for my longifolius to get this big... I guess I'll be waiting a few years though !  This is also in the Pena Palace gardens in Sintra Portugal, just west of Lisbon and worth the visit!

[Tracy]

My Encphalartos lebomboensis had an ugly flush last winter, not sure what happened as I only see it intermittently at my rental.  It has recuperated, with a nice set of what appear to be female large cones.

[Tracy]

Dioon edule "Palma Sola" variation showing two generations of cones, this Autumn's and an old cone which was before the most recent flush still holding on.

[Tracy]

A very chunky Cycas thouarsii with plenty of room to stretch.  The megasporophylls emerging anew, while old seeds hang down.  I put the tennis ball down for perspective on how thick the base is.  I have others which aren't showing this girth, not sure if it's unusual at this age or typical.

[Tracy]

Here we are in November, and my small but already multi-caudex Encephalartos cupidus is pushing one more flush.  One of the other growth points still hasn't hardened off, and I noticed these two new leaves pushing from a different growth point.

[Josue Diaz]

New leaves on each of my Ceratozamia mexicana.

Edited January 2, 2019 by Josue Diaz

[Marius]

This 5 headed E freddy is currently pushing new leaves on two heads with a third starting now as well a a new sucker. 

[Marius]

These two E lebomboensis pushed new leaves about a month ago. Still waiting on the third one. 

[Marius]

I’m hoping to see new leaves on this E middelburgensis as it’s skipped last year. 

[Tracy]

Some colorful cones:  Encephalartos villosus male cones and an Encephalartos ferox cone.

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

That is a nice Freddy G!

[Tracy]

On 1/1/2019, 9:48:51, Marius said:

This 5 headed E freddy is currently pushing new leaves on two heads with a third starting now as well a a new sucker. 

 

7 hours ago, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

That is a nice Freddy G!

I have to agree, that is a very nice Encephalartos friderici-guilielmi!  Marius any idea how old that guy or girl is?  Since I'm asking questions, do you know if it's male or female?

[Marius]

Thanks for the compliment Tracy and TexasColdHardyPalms. 

Unfortunately I don’t know. I bought three of them two years ago from a very old collection here in Bloemfontein. The one in the pic, another with one head and a third with three trunks of different sizes. I’ll have to wait until they cone. 

Friderici guilielmii is a rather slow grower. I first saw these about 25 years ago when I was at varsity and they were about the same size a now. I suspect that the previous owner acquired them as big plants. He also had two with 2,5m trunks. They were out of my price range. 

Im unfortunately not allowed to load more pics here. I’ll start a new thread and show you the other two. 

[Tracy]

I have a couple of Cycas thouarsii which were flushing as we started the new year, but my first to initiate a flush in 2019 is a hybrid.  Encephalartos (arenarius x horridus) x latifrons.  It has been a bit confusing of late on the weather front.  Lots of rain in December (relatively speaking) and early January some warm days in between and now back to rain.  I hope that this winter's rains translate into good growth for all my cycads this spring as we approach the mid-point of winter.  We aren't there yet though.

[DippyD]

Have not posted here in years. Here are some updates.... 

[5150cycad]

@DippyD Thanks for sharing. A lot of really nice cycads. I really like the longifolius in the last picture. The leaves are perfectly symmetrical. One of my favorites of the Encephalartos species. 

Edited February 19, 2019 by 5150cycad

[5150cycad]

On 1/31/2019 at 6:33 PM, Tracy said:

I have a couple of Cycas thouarsii which were flushing as we started the new year, but my first to initiate a flush in 2019 is a hybrid.  Encephalartos (arenarius x horridus) x latifrons.  It has been a bit confusing of late on the weather front.  Lots of rain in December (relatively speaking) and early January some warm days in between and now back to rain.  I hope that this winter's rains translate into good growth for all my cycads this spring as we approach the mid-point of winter.  We aren't there yet though.

I saw this longifolius flushing the other day and couldn’t believe my eyes. It’s bizarre since my temperatures have been so low this year. I have had ice on my windshield  many many times this year with a couple hard freezes (as low as 28 degrees). I am guessing maybe all the rain jump started it to flush early. It definitively wasn’t the warmer weather. I just hope it is able to push the leaves out without suffering too much damage from the cold. 

[JubaeaMan138]

any recommendations on how to force a flush? I have a dioon Mejiae that hasn’t flushed in 3 to 4 years . I planted it during its last flush almost 4 years ago I have several different dioons in the same area that flush atleast 2 times a year and this one is treated the exact same fertilizer and watering. Plant looks healthy other then a little sun burn on the edges of 2 of the leaves. Thought about digging it up and putting it back in a pot. Or maybe cutting all the leaves off I’ve heard that can force a flush . Any ideas 

[5150cycad]

On 2/19/2019 at 8:56 AM, JubaeaMan138 said:

any recommendations on how to force a flush? I have a dioon Mejiae that hasn’t flushed in 3 to 4 years . I planted it during its last flush almost 4 years ago I have several different dioons in the same area that flush atleast 2 times a year and this one is treated the exact same fertilizer and watering. Plant looks healthy other then a little sun burn on the edges of 2 of the leaves. Thought about digging it up and putting it back in a pot. Or maybe cutting all the leaves off I’ve heard that can force a flush . Any ideas 

In my experience cutting off all the leaves seems to speed up the process of a flush a bit, but wouldn’t say it forces a flush though. Cycads are weird plants and have a lot of strange growing habits. Given the fact that yours hasn’t flushed in 3-4 years you might not have much to lose. Maybe worth a try. I would wait till all this rain and cold weather is over before I cut anything off though. Some of my Cycads have been flushing and my temperatures have been below freezing. Can’t really explain why.

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

More stangeria naughty bits..

[Palm Tree Jim]

23 hours ago, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

More stangeria naughty bits..

Nice!

[Merlyn]

On 7/27/2009 at 9:38 PM, Gileno Machado said:

What Giant Cycas is this one?

I've been looking through all the great pictures, but never saw anyone's guess on what this monster is.  Any ideas?  Encephalartos Laurentianus?

[JubaeaMan138]

Doesn’t look like encephalartos at all but what do I know

[JubaeaMan138]

Whatever it is it’s ancient 

[Merlyn]

My first thought was some kind of palm, but I can't think of one that looks like that.  It sort of looks like a Cycas Thouarsii, Seemannii or Rumphii, and just super-stretched due to growing in lots of shade.  I saw a Ferox at Tom Broome's place that was in deep shade and about 12 feet in diameter.  He said that if you moved it to full sun it would probably be "normal" and shrink to around 6-8 feet in diameter.

[Tracy]

On 7/27/2009 at 6:38 PM, Gileno Machado said:

What Giant Cycas is this one?

We should go back to the source and ask you Gileno, did you ever get an answer on an ID?  Have you been back to see this plant since 2009 and get any updated photos.  Obviously a cone photo, close up of the caudex and closeup of leaves and rachis would all be helpful in determining an identification if you don't already have it.

[Dr Sha]

These are all very pretty cycads, I wish I had a pup from every single one posted here.

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

I love this time of year!!

[Tracy]

On 4/13/2019 at 10:32 PM, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

I love this time of year!!

Me too!  Spectacular after all the rain and now warming up!

[Palm Tree Jim]

Looking good!