Encephalartos altensteinii

Encephalartos altensteinii is a palm-like cycad in the family Zamiaceae, endemic to South Africa, most widespread in the Eastern Cape and south-western KwaZulu-Natal provinces. It grows up to seven meters tall, branched or unbranched, with straight or backward-curving leaves up to three meters long bearing rigid, fairly broad, toothed leaflets, and it produces two to five greenish-yellow cones up to 50 centimeters long that are poisonous, with scarlet seeds up to four centimeters long. It grows in coastal habitats including open scrub, steep rocky slopes, evergreen forest valleys and river banks, as well as at higher altitudes inland in the Amatola Mountains. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and under CITES Appendix I, threatened by habitat destruction, use in traditional medicine and removal by collectors; a specimen at Kew Gardens that arrived in 1775 is considered the world oldest potted plant.