Encephalartos lebomboensis I.Verd.

Plant branched or unbranched from the base with stems up to about 4 m tall and 30 cm diam., somewhat woolly on crown, with linear-lanceolate bracts about 4 cm long, 1 cm broad and woolly on back. Leaves in a dense crown, 1-2 m long, rarely longer, including petiole 3-10 cm long, pubescent when young, glabrescent; rhachis almost straight except towards tip which may be recurved or twisted, brown woolly towards base when young, glabrescent except pulvinus; leaflets mainly spreading widely, crowded above middle of rhachis but not much overlapping, wider spaced towards the base of rhachis and gradually reduced to several prickles; median leaflets narrowly lanceolate or sometimes oblong-lanceolate, 12-17 cm long, 1.2-2.2 cm broad, with 1-4 prickles on both margins, more regularly on the lower margin, rarely without prickles. Cones 1-3 together on short stout peduncles, apricot-yellow or dull salmon-pink. Male cones up to about 45 cm long and 13 cm in diam., narrowed gradually to apex and base; median scales about 3.5 cm long, 4 cm broad and 1.5 cm thick vertically, with sharp lateral irregularly laciniate ridges; bulla projected into a beak 1-1.5 cm long, terminal facet about 1 cm broad and slightly narrower vertically, with acute lower margin and indistinct upper one. Female cones cylindric-ovoid, up to about 45 cm long and 22 cm diam.; median scales about 6 cm long, 4-8 cm broad and 3.5 cm thick vertically, with lateral ridges extending into the incurved lateral irregularly laciniate winged-lobes about 1.8 cm long; bulla face protruding about 1 cm, with greyish or foxy pubescence, upper and lower facets more or less rounded and rarely ridged, the terminal facet central, slightly concave, 10-20 mm broad and 5-10 mm wide vertically, tomentose. Seeds scarlet, 4 cm long, 1.8-2.2 cm diam., with fleshy beak.