Life Span
Biennial
Perennial
Type
Palm or Cycad
Flowering Plants, Perennial
Origin
South Africa
-
Types
Alexandria cycad, Encephalartos caffer, Encephalartos concinnus
Yellow Monkshood, Carmichael's Monkshood, Kamchatka Aconite
Number of Varieties
66250
0
40000
👆🏻
Habitat
Riverbanks, Rocky areas, Scrubs
low mountains
USDA Hardiness Zone
9-124-8
0
99
👆🏻
AHS Heat Zone
12-8
-
Sunset Zone
H1, H2, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
Habit
Clump-Forming
Upright/Erect
Plant Size
Minimum Height
290.00 cm130.00 cm
0
3900
👆🏻
Minimum Width
240.00 cm80.00 cm
0
6350
👆🏻
Plant Color
Flower Color
-
Blue, Violet
Flower Color Modifier
Bicolor
-
Fruit Color
-
-
Leaf Color in Spring
Green, Dark Green
Green
Leaf Color in Summer
Dark Green
Green
Leaf Color in Fall
Dark Green
Green
Leaf Color in Winter
Dark Green
Green
Shape
Leaf Shape
Pinnate
Upright
Thorns
✔
✘
✔
✘
Plant Season
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter
Fall, Summer
Growing Conditions
Sunlight
Full Sun, Partial Sun, Partial shade
Full Sun, Partial shade
Growth Rate
Slow
Medium
Type of Soil
Loam, Sand
Moist
The pH of Soil
Acidic, Neutral, Alkaline
-
Soil Drainage
Well drained
Well drained
Bloom Time
Early Summer, Summer
Early Fall, Late Summer
Repeat Bloomer
✔
✘
✔
✘
Tolerances
Drought
-
Where to Plant?
Container, Ground, Pot
Ground
How to Plant?
Seedlings
Divison
Plant Maintenance
Medium
Medium
Watering Plants
Watering Requirements
Needs very little water
Do Not over Water, Requires regular watering
In Summer
Lots of watering
Lots of watering
In Spring
Moderate
Moderate
In Winter
Average Water
Average Water
Soil
Soil pH
Acidic, Neutral, Alkaline
Neutral
Soil Type
Loam, Sand
Average, Moist
Soil Drainage Capacity
Well drained
Well drained
Sun Exposure
Full Sun, Partial Sun, Partial shade
Partial Sun
Pruning
Remove crossing or rubbing branches, Remove damaged leaves, Remove dead branches, Remove dead leaves, Remove dead or diseased plant parts
Remove damaged leaves
Fertilizers
All-Purpose Liquid Fertilizer
All-Purpose Liquid Fertilizer
Pests and Diseases
Red blotch
Citrus leaf miner, Leaf spot, Mealy bugs, Mites, Rust, Verticillium Wilt
Plant Tolerance
Drought
Drought
Flowers
✔
✘
✔
✘
Flower Petal Number
-
-
Fruits
Showy Fruit
✔
✘
✔
✘
Edible Fruit
✔
✘
✔
✘
Fragrance
Fragrant Flower
✔
✘
✔
✘
Fragrant Fruit
✔
✘
✔
✘
Fragrant Leaf
✔
✘
✔
✘
Fragrant Bark/Stem
✔
✘
✔
✘
Showy Foliage
✔
✘
✔
✘
Showy Bark
✔
✘
✔
✘
Foliage Texture
Bold
Bold
Foliage Sheen
Glossy
Matte
Evergreen
✔
✘
✔
✘
Invasive
✔
✘
✔
✘
Self-Sowing
✔
✘
✔
✘
Attracts
Birds
Bees
Allergy
-
breathing problems, Nausea, Rapid Heartbeat, Sweating, Vomiting, weakness
Uses
Aesthetic Uses
Showy Purposes
Showy Purposes
Beauty Benefits
-
-
Edible Uses
✔
✘
✔
✘
Environmental Uses
Air purification, Shadow Tree, Windbreak
-
Plant Benefits
Medicinal Uses
-
Gout, Heart problems, Inflammation, Joint pain, Kidney problems, Nerve pain, Wounds
Part of Plant Used
Leaves, Seeds, Stem
Whole plant
Other Uses
Used As Food, Used as Ornamental plant, Used for its medicinal properties
Used in herbal medicines
Used As Indoor Plant
✔
✘
✔
✘
Used As Outdoor Plant
✔
✘
✔
✘
Garden Design
Feature Plant, Foundation, Mixed Border, Tropical
Cutflower, Mixed Border
Botanical Name
ENCEPHALARTOS altensteinii
Aconitum variegatum
Common Name
Bread Tree, Prickly Cycad
Aconite, Monkshood, Wolf's bane, Leopard's bane, Mousebane, Women's bane, Devil's helmet, Queen of all Poisons, or Blue rocket
In Hindi
Bread Tree
बच्छनाभ
In German
Brotbaum
Eisenhut
In French
Bread Arbre
aconit
In Spanish
Árbol del pan
acónito
In Greek
ψωμί Δέντρο
monkshood
In Portuguese
Árvore de pão
Aconitum
In Polish
chleb Drzewo
tojad
In Latin
panis ligno
aconitum
Kingdom
Plantae
Plantae
Phylum
Tracheophyta
Magnoliophyta
Class
Equisetopsida
Magnoliopsida
Order
Cycadales
Ranunculales
Family
Cycadaceae
Ranunculaceae
Genus
Encephalartos
Aconitum
Clade
-
Angiosperms, Eudicots
Tribe
-
Delphinieae
Subfamily
-
-
Number of Species
66250
1
27800
👆🏻