Encephalartos senticosus is a species of cycad in the family Zamiaceae native to the Lebombo Mountains of Mozambique, Eswatini (Swaziland), and the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.

It was originally included with the closely related Encephalartos lebomboensis but was separated as a new species in 1996 by the South African botanist Pieter Johannes Vorster.

They are spaced 2 to 3.5 cm (0.79 to 1.38 in) from each other at the middle, becoming smaller in size towards the base, with the basal-most leaflets being reduced to prickles.

Male specimens produce three or four very narrowly ovoid cones which are set on stalks up to 10 cm (3.9 in) long.

[3] Encephalartos senticosus is found in the Lebombo Mountains at altitudes of 300–800 metres (980–2,620 ft), along the borders of South Africa, Swaziland, and Mozambique.

It is mostly found from south of the Pongolapoort (Jozini) Dam of northern KwaZulu-Natal to a few kilometers north of the town of Siteki.