Encephalartos ferox, Bertoloni, 1851

Rousseau, Philip, Vorster, Pieter J., Afonso, Abilio V. & Van Wyk, Abraham E., 2015, Taxonomic notes on Encephalartos ferox (Cycadales: Zamiaceae), with the description of a new subspecies from Mozambique, Phytotaxa 204 (2), pp. 99-115 : 105

Key to the subspecies of Encephalartos ferox

1. Stems subterranean (rarely emergent> 1 m); median leaflet width 33–52(59–65 rarely up to 80) mm; median leaflet length × width ratio 3.3:1.0; strobili predominantly red to orange; megasporophylls concolourous externally and internally, red to rarely orange or yellow; seedling leaflet width 10–18 mm; ranging from northeastern KwaZulu-Natal ( South Africa) to south of Vilanculos ( Mozambique), associated with FZ Vegetation type 20: Miombo Woodlands on Lake Basin, Sul do Save Sands, Vegetation type 14b: Littoral dunes ( Wild & Barbosa 1968), and CB 1: Maputaland Coastal Belt ( Mucina & Rutherford 2006)....................... subsp. ferox

-. Stems emergent, 1.0– 1.5 m long above ground; median leaflet width (20–) 25–34 mm; median leaflet length × width ratio 5:1; strobili predominantly yellow; megasporophylls discolourous, externally yellow, internally green grading to white away from the outer surface, rarely concolourous red; seedling leaflet width 8–13 mm; with a restricted range from north of Vilanculos to south of the Save River, associated with FZ Vegetation type 44 ( Wild & Barbosa 1968): Deciduous Tree Savanna with Palms (badly drained, lowland), confined to raised mounds (hillocks)................................................................................................................ subsp. emersus