Etymology:
Latin, crassus, thick, and folius, leaf, referring to the thick-textured leaflets.
Historical notes: Distinguishing features: Allied to M. pauli-guilielmi, distinguished by the broader, longer, thicker and darker green leaflets. Distribution and habitat: M. crassifolia occurs in the Eidsvold-Mundubbera district, in small and disjunct stands on sandy soils over granite. Conservation status: Known only from a few small and disjunct stands, not well conserved and potentially under threat (IUCN Red List category VU; ROTAP category 2V-). Gazetted as a Rare or Threatened Plant under Queensland Nature Conservation legislation.1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants category R.
Description:
Plants acaulescent, stem 10-20 cm diam. Leaves 1-5 in crown, bright green to deep green, highly glossy, 50-110 cm long, moderately keeled, with 104-172 leaflets; rachis strongly spirally twisted, straight, stiff; petiole 5-26 cm long, straight, unarmed, 7-20 mm wide at lowest leaflets; basal leaflets not reducing to spines. Leaflets simple, strongly discolorous; margins incurved; apex entire, not spinescent; median leaflets 150-550 mm long, 2-3.5 mm wide. Pollen cones fusiform, 10-16 cm long, 3-4.5 cm diam.; microsporophyll lamina 17-22 mm long, 13-16 mm wide; apical spine 0-13 mm long. Seed cones ovoid, 11-15 cm long, 6-8 cm diam.; megasporophyll lamina 16-23 mm long, megasporophyll with an expanded peltate apex 25-35 mm wide, 12-15 mm high; apical spine 0-4 mm long. Seeds ovoid, 19-26 mm long, 18-22 mm wide; sarcotesta red.
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