Historical notes: Distinguishing features: Distinguished by the moderately to openly keeled, bluish-grey leaves with a slight or no spiral twist, long petioles and non-pungent leaflets with orange or red callous bases. Leaves, leaflets, cones and seeds are smaller than those of M. elegans. Distribution and habitat: New South Wales, Goulburn River valley to the lower eastern Blue Mountains and Sydney-Waterfall districts. Scattered in sclerophyll forests on sandy or gravelly soils of low fertility. Conservation status: Not considered to be at risk (IUCN Red List category LR,lc).
Description:
Plants acaulescent, stem 8-20 cm diam. Leaves 2-12 in crown, grey-green, semiglossy, 50-100 cm long, moderately keeled, with 45-120 leaflets; rachis not spirally twisted to moderately spirally twisted, recurved, arching stiffly downwards; petiole 15-40 cm long, straight, unarmed, 4-8 mm wide at lowest leaflet; basal leaflets not reducing to spines. Leaflets simple, strongly discolorous; margins flat, or recurved (slightly); apex entire, not spinescent; median leaflets 120-200 mm long, 5-10 mm wide. Pollen cones fusiform, 15-20 cm long, 5-6 cm diam.; microsporophyll lamina 20-30 mm long, 15-22 mm wide; apical spine 0-15 mm long. Seed cones ovoid, 12-20 cm long, 6-9 cm diam.; megasporophyll lamina 30-40 mm long, stipe 25-30 mm long, megasporophyll with an expanded peltate apex 35-55 mm wide, 15-25 mm high; apical spine 2-30 mm long. Seeds ovoid, 25-30 mm long, 20-25 mm wide; sarcotesta red.
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