We have pleasure in offering bulk GARDEN MIXED YELLOWS – open pollinated yellow clivia seed from the well-know clivia breeder – Paul Kloeck.



R2.00 PER SEED – MINIMUM ORDER 500

$0.30 PER SEED – MINIMUM ORDER 500

SA clients to add VAT + shipping.

Overseas clients to add shipping and if required phytosanitary certificate.

Bulk Clivia Seed Offer - Paul Kloeck

We have pleasure in offering clivia seed and bulk clivia seed from the well-know clivia breeder – Paul Kloeck.



SA clients to add VAT + shipping.
Overseas clients to add shipping and if required phytosanitary certificate.

Download the price list here:
http://www.capeflora.com/price_list/P ... eed_special_June_2010.doc

Or send us a request and we will email it to you
http://www.capeflora.com/modules/liaise/

N.B. Minimum quantity per variety: 50 seeds. This depends on the number of varieties ordered and can be negotiated.
Available 14 days from payment of order.
Price excludes postage.
VAT payable for RSA customers

We are pleased to be offering seed from Philip Crous a well-known breeder from Grahamstown area.

Philip has been involved with clivias since 1997 and done well in the Port Elizabeth Clivia shows. Most of his seeds have come from Charl Malan.

Please order early as seed is limited and is on a first-come-first-served basis.

To secure the order payment is required upfront after we have sent order confirmation/pro-forma invoice with the banking details.

Seed is availalble in July 2010.

See Philip's Clivia pictures pictures in our photo gallery, or view them on our Facebook page.

Clich here to request our pricelist now

Cycads
Author - Rob Kunitz

Cycads occur naturally in many regions of the world, mostly within the tropics. They are a very old group of plants with fossil evidence dating them back as far as 230 000 000 years ago (Grobelaar).

Cycads superficially resemble palms or ferns, but are in fact Gymnosperms and are therefore far more closely related to other well known plants such as Podocarpus (Yellowoods), Pinus (Pine trees), Ghinko biloba and Welwitchia. Cycads also produce cones (male and female) instead of flowers or spores. Cycads are called ‘Broodboom’ in Afrikaans due to the fact that indigenous people made/make a type of bread from them. Sadly large plants are cut down the ‘pith’ removed from inside these stems which is used to make the bread.



3 main groups/families of cycads are to be found with 2 of these occurring in Africa. Stangeriaceae has only 1 species in Africa, the interesting Stangeria eriopus which is the only species in the genus and has soft ‘ fern-like’ leaves and occurs in Kzn. The other family is Zamiaceae where we there are a number of genera, one of which is Encephalartos which is only found in Africa. Most of the species (over 40) in this genus are to be found in South Africa.



Cycads are dioecious meaning that the fruiting bodies (cones) are born on separate male and female plants. They can be propagated from seed or vegetatively from suckers. When propagating from seed it is important to make sure that the female cone is correctly pollinated with the correct pollen at the right moment when it was receptive in order to ensure that the pollination will be successful. It was though that cycads were wind pollinated, but more and more evidence shows that insects are in fact the pollinators, some only found on a specific cycad species. Encephalartos produce seeds whether they are fertile or not, unlike Cycas where the seeds only enlarge and mature if pollination was successful. In Encephalartos further tests need to performed on the seed to check if it is viable. In Encephalartos both sexes produce 1 or more cones depending on the species and age of the plant. Some species cone almost every year while others every 20yrs if you’re lucky! The cones can range in size from 150mm x 150mm to over 1m x 250mm, sometimes weighing over 40Kg’s each. About 50 to over 300 seeds are released from a single cone depending on the species. The sarcotesta (flesh) on the outside is enjoyed by birds, monkeys, baboons, and other animals which disperse the seed. They eat only this outer part of the seeds and leave the sclerotesta (hard shell) and endosperm (kernel) inside. Somehow they know that the ‘kernel’ is very toxic!



Suckers can be removed from parent plants using the correct procedures. One advantage of this is that these plants are clones of the parent plant and so one will know the sex of the plant. Female plants are usually more desirable as one can get seed from them, unlike the males which only produce the pollen. Another advantage of being able to multiply cycads is in the case of very rare species such as E. woodii where no female plant has ever been found and so it can’t be propagated from seed. This is also the case for very rare forms within a species such as the E. middleburgensis ‘Avontuur’ form where only male plants occur, and E. laevifolius ‘Krokodil Poort’ where only a female plant is known.



Encephalartos of all sizes and forms can be found which have evolved to survive in their environments. The species range from small subterranean plants with mature stems (caudexes) about 150mm to some of the tallest in world like E. transvenosus which stand up to 14m tall!. These different species grow at different rates, so an E. transvenosus over 5m tall may only be up to a few hundred years old, whereas an E. ghellinckii or E. frederici-guililmii with a 1m stem may be far older.



Sadly numerous species have become extinct in the wild due to theft and the muti trade. There are laws in place to protect these botanical ‘treasures’ we still have with us today, but cycads are often very sought after and expensive and are still being stolen from the wild (and even botanical gardens, etc.). Seeing them in the wild is very special and no one could recreate the beauty of them growing as they should be in nature. It is sad to see plants in gardens which were removed from nature where they belonged (those that survived the transplant). It is not just the plants that are gone, but also the little insect pollinators, etc. that once was part of their life cycle. Most Encephalartos are fantastic low maintenance, drought tolerant feature plants which are excellent for landscaping. The good news is that there are fortunately there are nurseries legally propagating these plants and making them available for everyone to enjoy!



See more amazing cycad photos here
http://www.capeflora.com/modules/myalbum/viewcat.php?cid=10

Credits:
Professor Nat Grobbler

Email us for prices
sales@capeflora.com

We are now exporting Cycads worldwide. Request our price list now.

We have pleasure in offering you the following Clivia seed from Roly Strachan.



BULK CLIVIA MINIATA SEED - which originates from Ixopo plants at R300.00 per kg.

STRACHAN PEACH – R450.00 per kg.

There are about 1000 seed in one kg.

Seed will be available middle of August 2010 – to secure your order we need payment in advance.

SA clients to add VAT + shipping

Overseas clients to add shipping and if required phytosanitary certificate.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Email us for more information

sales@capeflora.com

Cape flora is currently running the following 3 Special Offers on Strelitzias

OFFER 1: Pure fresh Strelitzia Juncea seed

Price to South African customers R.3000 per 1000 seeds excl VAT and shipping.

Export price $423 per 1000 seed excluding Phytosanitary permit and shipping.

Seed is available now!

OFFER 2: STRELITZIA JUNCEA OFF-SETS- SA CLIENTS ONLY!

We are offering these off-sets at R75 (normal price R120) per plant excluding VAT. Growing instructions included. Minimum order is for 100 plants.

Order now before stocks run out!

Price excludes shipping and VAT.
(Offer for South African clients only).



OFFER 3: STRELITZIA NICOLAI – WILD BANANA SEED OFFER

We can supply fresh Strelitzia nicolai at a price of R330.00 per kg excluding vat for South African customers and $ 47.00 per kg for our overseas customers.

Prices exclude shipping and phytosanitary permit if required.
There are approximately 3000 seeds per kg.

NOTE THAT OFFER 2 IS ONLY AVAILABLE TO SA CUSTOMERS

Cape Flora is now offering Scadoxus pole - evansii at R50 per seed

SOUTH AFRICAN CUSTOMERS ONLY

Email us at sales@capeflora.com to place your order.

We have added some amazing photos of Charl Malans Clivias to our photo section.

Click here to view these photos.

http://www.capeflora.com/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=184



Capeflora

We are pleased to be again offering seed from the well-known breeder, Charl Malan. Please order early as seed is limited and is on a first-come-first-served basis. To secure the order payment is required upfront after we have sent order confirmation/pro-forma invoice with the banking details.

Seed is availalble in July 2010

Download the Seed List here:

http://www.capeflora.com/price_list/C ... Clivia_seed_list_2010.doc



Regards

Cape Flora Nursery
sales@capeflora.com

We going to be adding plenty of pictures and information soon.