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Species library › Encephalartos › Encephalartos septentrionalis
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Encephalartos septentrionalis

The Nile cycad, the northernmost Encephalartos, from the savanna woodlands of South Sudan, northern Uganda, the northeastern DR Congo and the Central African Republic. It is a sun-loving, partly subterranean cycad with grey-green leaves. Give it heat, sun, a wet summer and a dry season.

Encephalartos septentrionalis
Photo: Photo by David J. Stang, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night A clear drop at nightTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light Full sunDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

Wooded savanna and rocky hillsides of the Sudanian–Guinean belt. It has a stout, partly subterranean stem up to 2 m tall and grows in open, fire-prone woodland, typical of savanna cycads.

Mostly 500–900 m in the Central African Republic records; Ugandan records are higher (one site at about 1,860 m).

South SudanUgandaDemocratic Republic of the CongoCentral African Republic

🔒 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 4.0 licence, unmodified.