Back to the Huntington and a look at the cycads

Prior to my 2019 visit (when these photos were taken), my last time to stroll the Huntington grounds was in 2014. Sometime during those intervening 5 years there were some pretty major changes around the garden, like this mass planting of part of their large cycad collection...

Photo below, Encephalartos ferox: "Native to southern Mozambique and the northern parts of the Natal district of South Africa. Localities are fairly close to the ocean and this species is found in shaded areas, often on sand dunes and beneath overhead brush trees. In these localities no severe cold is seen and humidity is high. The name of this species refers to the Latin word "fierce" referring to the prominent pointed lobes on the leaflets." (source)

It's a pretty magical feeling to stroll through these huge, ancient, plants.

Dioon edule (the chestnut dioon), native to Mexico.

Dioon holmgrenii, a rare species from the state of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Plantings on both sides of the walkway made for nice viewing from above and below.

Following this pathway would take us away from the cycads, so we won't go that way quite yet.

But we will come back to those bromeliads at the end of this post.

I wasn't able to get the name of this beauty.

This oddball is Encephalartos gratus, native to Malawi and Mozambique.

Kalanchoe (mixing things up a bit)

Dioon merolae, native to Chiapas and Oaxaca, Mexico

So feathery!

x Graptoveria 'Fred Ives' perhaps?

No ID on this one either, but I am guessing Encephalartos arenarius—it's also the last of the cycads as I wrap up this post with a look at more of the "companion" plantings.