CONSERVATION STATUS:
- Critically endangered.
CULTIVATION:
- Semi shade to full sun.
- Does well with regular watering.
- Tolerant of light frost.
PROPAGATION:
- Propagation from seed and suckers, slow growing.
NATURAL HABITAT:
- Eastern Cape Province in the Albany and Bathurst districts.
- They grow in rocky areas and open grassveld.
STEM:
- Aerial, erect stem that doesn’t become reclining.
- The stem can attain a length of 3 meters with a diameter of 30 cm to 35 cm.
- The stem is exceptionally hard with the apex covered in hard brown cataphylls.
LEAVES:
- Leaves are a dark glossy green on the upper side and a much lighter duller green on the lower side.
- Leaves are rigid and hard with the rachis curving downwards, especially near the apex.
- Leaflets are lobed with the lobes always twisted out of the leaflet plane.
- Leaflets are crowded and shield one another.
- Leaflets have a rough sandpaper feel to them.
