The Cycads of the Lowveld Botanical Gardens, South Africa*
By Pieter Saayman

The spectacular cascades of the Nels and Crocodile rivers form the center of the developed gardens at this botanical garden. The gardens are located in Nelspruit, a town in the Mpumalanga region of South Africa. Some of the gardens' special features are the tropical African rain forest, some magnificent tree collections (over 600 of South Africa's 1000 tree species are cultivated there), and then, of course, the cycad collection, which includes the most comprehensive collection of African species in the country. According to a publication by the Parks Department in 1993, this garden is ranked 3rd in the world in relation to the amount of species represented.

• Number of cycad taxa represented: 68

• Number of American taxa: 17

• Number of African taxa: 46

• Number of Australian and Asian taxa: 5

• Number of mature specimens: 1502

I will have to say, though, that after visiting the gardens, I am not sure of the numbers quoted here. It is possible that all these species occur, but, due to a very bad system of labeling, it is nearly impossible to determine which species occur since many can't be identified. Counting only those that we were able to identify, though, it seems like more species have been added since the 1993 publication.

American Species | Australian/Asian Species | Central African Species
South African Species 1 | South African Species 2 | South African Species 3

*Article reprinted with permission from Pieter's cycad website: http://mzone.mweb.co.za/residents/psk/homepage.html

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