Encephalartos natalensis, “a living fossil”, is a quick-growing, handsome, giant tree cycad for your garden. This frost-hardy cycad prefers subtropical to warm or hot temperate climates. Description Encephalartos natalensis is an evergreen, quick-growing cycad, up to 6.5 m high and with a stem or trunk of about 0.4 m in diameter. The stem sometimes branches, but reclines only when other stems emerge from the base. It has a golden, woolly crown, which increases on production of cones or new whorls of leaves. The leaves are of medium size, about 1.5–3 m long and slightly curved or straight. The leaflets are about 160–230 x 25–45 mm, dark green and entire or with 1–5 teeth on one or both margins. The lower leaflets are reduced to spines. New leaves and cones are covered with yellowish brown wool. There are separate male and female plants. They produce 2 or 3, orangy yellow to orangy red cones in both genders. The male cones are cylindrical, yellowish green, velvety, about 450–500 mm long, and 90–120 mm across. They shed the pollen in April to June. The female cones are oblong to oblong-ovate. They are about 500–600 mm long and 250–300 mm in diameter. The faces of the cone scales are wrinkled. The cones disintegrate spontaneously from November to January, each yielding 415–510 bright red seeds. The seeds are about 25–35 mm long and 12–18 mm in diameter.