Encephalartos hirsutus is a species of cycad that is native to Limpopo Province of South Africa.

[3] It was recorded from three separate localities on south-east-facing quartzite cliffs in the Makuya Nature Reserve bordering the Kruger National Park at elevations ranging from 800–1,000 meters (2,600–3,300 ft) above sea level.

[4] It is an arborescent cycad, with an erect stem, which becomes decumbent in older specimens, up to 4 m (13 ft) high and with a diameter of 35–40 cm (14–16 in).

The leaves, pinnate, arranged in a crown at the apex of the stem, are 1.1–1.4 m (3 ft 7 in – 4 ft 7 in) long, supported by a petiole about 13 cm (5.1 in) long, and composed of numerous pairs of elliptic leaflets and coriaceous, long 13–17 cm (5.1–6.7 in), with entire margin and thorny apex, fixed on the rachis with an angle of about 40°, reduced to thorns towards the base of the petiole.

The seeds are coarsely ovoid, 3–3.5 cm (1.2–1.4 in) long, covered with an orange-red sarcotesta.