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Species library › Encephalartos › Encephalartos afer
Other Little published: much of this is inferred from related species

Encephalartos afer

A small, mostly underground-stemmed cycad of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, long known as Encephalartos caffer, with soft, ruffled dark green leaves up to about 1 m. It grows in coastal grassveld in full sun, so it needs strong light, a very free-draining gritty mix and a drier, cooler winter. Our own range and climate data are missing for this name, so the conditions below are generalised.

Encephalartos afer
Photo: tato grasso, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Cool-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Dry airBand in Plantistry
Light Full sunDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

Coastal grassveld and adjacent bush within about 100 km of the coast, where the stem sits mostly below ground and survives grass fires.

No elevation data; the coastal belt and near-inland grassland suggest low to moderate elevations, roughly sea level to several hundred metres.

Cape Provinces

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 3.0 licence, unmodified.