Encephalartos woodii or hybrid?

[Vinc-S]

Hello to anyone reading this,

I have seen this facebook-post from a South African cycad nursery, claiming they have an Encephalartos woodii plant, from which they sell suckers: https://www.facebook.com/reel/611668838323779.

I am however not fully convinced, that it is not an F2 natalensis hybrid, which is why it would be interesting to hear your thoughts about the plant.

 

P. S.: Thanks to anyone taking the time to read this. I have been a long time guest on this site, reading through the fruitful discussions. Looking forward for some interesting new thoughts from you people.

[Tracy]

On 3/27/2025 at 4:32 PM, Vinc-S said:

Hello to anyone reading this,

I have seen this facebook-post from a South African cycad nursery, claiming they have an Encephalartos woodii plant, from which they sell suckers: https://www.facebook.com/reel/611668838323779.

I am however not fully convinced, that it is not an F2 natalensis hybrid, which is why it would be interesting to hear your thoughts about the plant.

 

P. S.: Thanks to anyone taking the time to read this. I have been a long time guest on this site, reading through the fruitful discussions. Looking forward for some interesting new thoughts from you people.

That cone is not as big or as long as the woodii cones I have seen.  It is hard to tell in my photo below, but the ones on the table were the biggest male cones i have ever seen from an Encephalartos.   Well over 3' but I hesitate saying 4' because I didn't have a tape to measure them.  

I only have hybrids, but there are people harvesting pups from large mature Encephalartos woodii and selling them periodically.   Photos of the full plant, leaves and leaflets would be helpful to better assess but the cone is too barrel shaped unless it elongated shortly after your photo was taken.

[GeneAZ]

That's a Marion Hill plant.  Not the clonotype from Ngoye found by Medley Wood called woodii. 

[Vinc-S]

47 minutes ago, Tracy said:

That cone is not as big or as long as the woodii cones I have seen.  It is hard to tell in my photo below, but the ones on the table were the biggest male cones i have ever seen from an Encephalartos.   Well over 3' but I hesitate saying 4' because I didn't have a tape to measure them.  

I only have hybrids, but there are people harvesting pups from large mature Encephalartos woodii and selling them periodically.   Photos of the full plant, leaves and leaflets would be helpful to better assess but the cone is too barrel shaped unless it elongated shortly after your photo was taken.

Let’s see I have a picture, that shows a larger portion of the leaves. You are certainly right about the size of the cones. My only explanation would be the fact that the plant is apparently „only“ 30 years old and the cone is accordingly smaller.

[Vinc-S]

47 minutes ago, GeneAZ said:

That's a Marion Hill plant.  Not the clonotype from Ngoye found by Medley Wood called woodii. 

They also claim to have a Marion Hill plant, here is a picture of that.

[Vinc-S]

On 3/29/2025 at 8:22 PM, GeneAZ said:

That's a Marion Hill plant.  Not the clonotype from Ngoye found by Medley Wood called woodii. 

Is there a certain thing that makes you able to tell them apart?