Encephalartos laurentianus, commonly called the malele or Kwango giant cycad, is a species of cycad that is native to northern Angola and southern Congo (Zaire), mostly along the Kwango River.[1]
It is the largest of all cycads, with multiple stems both upright and prostrate, each as much as 60feet in length,[2] and bearing a rosette of massive once-pinnate fronds up to 25 feet (eight meters) in length, 40inches in width, and with a petiole or stalk up to 3inches thick where it joins the stem or trunk. Each stem can be up to 4feet in thickness.[3] [4] [5] This is also said to be the fastest growing cycad, producing up to five "flushes" (rosettes, or clusters) of leaves each year.[6] The species was discovered in 1902 by Louis Gentil.[7]