Interesting Facts
Common Names
Common Names in English:
Cycad, Marlborough Blue Sago
Description
Family Cycadaceae
Trees
or shrubs
evergreen
, dioecious, mostly palmlike; trunk
columnar
, sometimes dichotomously branched at apex, rarely ovoid-bulbous and subterranean
, clothed with bases
of fallen leaves; bark
often thickened and roughened. Leaves borne at apex of trunk, 1(-3) -pinnately compound
, spirally arranged
; new leaves erect
(or somewhat inflexed
and appearing coiled
in C.
multipinnata group), with circinnate leaflets
; petiole
with spines representing (reduced basal leaflets), rarely unarmed
, base swollen and hairy
; leaflets numerous
, alternate to subopposite, dichotomously branched in a few species, midvein
present, margin
usually entire. Cataphylls prominent
, alternate with leaves, hairy, apex often rigid
and pungent
. Pollen cones borne at apex of trunk, cylindric
or fusiform
; microsporophylls
numerous, scalelike, spirally and tightly arranged along axis of cone, with numerous microsporangia in groups abaxially; pollen tubes
producing 2 motile
sperm
cells
. Megasporophylls several to numerous, somewhat leaflike, alternating with flushes of leaves, arranged in a loose
, "conelike" crown surrounding apex of trunk, each with a linear
fertile
stalk
and an apical, pinnatifid
or subentire
sterile
blade
; ovules (1 or) 2-5 on each side of stalk. Seeds drupelike, somewhat compressed
; seed coat
3-layered, consisting of colored
sarcotesta
, woody sclerotesta
, and membranous endotesta
. Cotyledons 2, united
at base. Germination hypogeal, cryptocotylar
. 2n = 22*.
One genus and ca.
60 species: E Africa (including Madagascar), E and S Asia, N Australia, Pacific Islands; 16 species (eight endemic) in China.
Ornamental species
include Cycas
revoluta, which is widely cultivated worldwide. Other species (e.g.
, C. circinalis Linnaeus, C. media R. Brown, C. pectinata, C. rumphii Miquel, C. taitungensis, and C. thouarsii R. Brown) have excellent ornamental
qualities. The stem starch
, "sago" (not to be confused with the true sago as obtained from palms of the genus Metroxylon Rottboøll), is edible and is used in packing brewers’ yeast after the removal of cycasins which are highly toxic
and carcinogenic
. A paste
of Cycas seeds and coconut oil
is used for the treatment of skin
complaints, wounds, ulcers, sores, and boils
.[1]
Genus Cycas
Morphological characters and geographical distribution are the same as those for the family .[2]
Physical Description
Habit: Evergreen .
Flowers: Bloom Period: n/a • Flower Color: inconspicuous, none
Size/Age/Growth
Size: 24-36" tall.
Habitat
Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 243 meters (0 to 797 feet).[3]
Ecology:
Populations occur in open grassy woodland or grassland on flat country
and on sandy alluvium
and deep sands, usually near streams
. The cycads
are the dominant component
of the vegetation in this area. (Ref.
266832).
List of Habitats
:
- 1 Forest
- 1.5 Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Dry
- 2 Savanna
- 2.1 Savanna - Dry
- 4 Grassland
- 4.5 Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical Dry [more info]
Biology
Growth
Culture: Space 36-48" apart.
Soil: Minimum pH: 6.6 • Maximum pH: 7.5
Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .
Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High
Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 10a, 10b, 11. (map)
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
)
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
)
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
)
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
)
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
)
- Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
)
- Brongn.
- Order:
Cycadales
(
)
- Dumortier, 1829
- Family:
Cycadaceae
(
)
- Persoon, 1807, nom. cons.
- Cycas Family
- Genus:
Cycas
(
)
- C. Linnaeus, 1753
- Cycad
- Specific epithet:
angulata
- R.Br.
- Botanical name: - Cycas angulata R.Br.
- Specific epithet:
angulata
- R.Br.
- Genus:
Cycas
(
- Family:
Cycadaceae
(
- Order:
Cycadales
(
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Notes
Name
Status: Accepted Name
.
Last scrutiny: 2004
Similar Species
Members of the genus Cycas
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 52 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
C. angulata (Cycad) · C. annaikalensis (Annaikal Cycas (India)) · C. armstrongii (Australian Cycad) · C. beddomei (Andhra Pradesh Cycas) · C. bifida (Fork-Leafed Cycad) · C. bougainvilleana (Cycad) · C. cairnsiana (Australian Cycas) · C. campestris (Cycad) · C. candida (White Seed Sago) · C. chamaoensis (Cycad) · C. changjiangensis (Cycad) · C. circinalis (Crozier Cycas) · C. clivicola (Cliff Cycad) · C. couttsiana (Cycad) · C. curranii (Currans Pitogo) · C. debaoensis (Cycad) · C. diannanensis (Cycad) · C. dolichophylla (Cycad) · C. edentata (Cycad) · C. elephantipes (Cycad) · C. falcata (Cycad) · C. ferruginea (Cycad) · C. hainanensis (Hainan Cycas) · C. hongheensis (Cycad) · C. kedia (Australian Nut Palm) · C. litoralis (Cycad) · C. media (Cycad) · C. micholitzii (Micholtzis Sago) · C. nongnoochiae (Nong Nooch Sago) · C. ophiolitica (Marlbourough Blue Cycad) · C. pachypoda (Cycad) · C. panzhihuaensis (Cycad) · C. pectinata (Cycad) · C. petraea (Loei Cycad) · C. platyphylla (Cycad) · C. revoluta (Japanese Sago Palm) · C. revoluta 'Aurea' (Japanese Sago Palm) · C. revoluta 'Showa' (Japanese Sago Palm) · C. riuminiana (Arayat Pitogo) · C. rumphii (Ceylon Sago) · C. sexseminifera (Dwarf Sago) · C. siamensis (Cycad) · C. simplicipinna (Cycad) · C. szechuanensis (Guizhou Cycas) · C. taitungensis (Prince Sago) · C. taiwaniana (Cycad) · C. thouarsii (Madagascar Cycad) · C. tropophylla (Ha Long Cycad) · C. wadei (Wades Pitogo) · C. 'Nova Loei' (Cycad) · C. 'Nova Meeldijk' (Cycad) · C. 'Wilailak' (Cycad)
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Anales de la Sociedad Española de Historia Natural. Madrid: La Sociedad, url , .
- Forest culture and eucalyptus trees, San FranciscoCubery1876 url p. 294, p. 560.
- Fossil plants: for students of botany and geology / Cambridge: University Press, 1898-1919. url .
- Fossil plants; a text-book for students of botany and geology, by A. C. Seward. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1898-1919. url p. 21, p. xiii.
- Hortus suburbanus Calcuttensis; A catalogue of the plants which have been cultivated in the Hon. East India Company's botanical garden, Calcutta, and in the Serampore botanical garden. By the late J. O. Voigt, printed under the superintendence of W. Griffith. Calcutta, Bishop's College Press, 1845. url p. 555.
- Papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania. Hobart, Tasmania, The Society. url p. 31.
- Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. Sydney, Linnean Society of New South Wales. url p. 96.
- Select extra-tropical plants readily eligible for industrial culture or naturalisation with indications of their native countries and some of their uses / by Baron Ferd. von Mueller. Melbourne: R. S. Brain, govt. printer, 1895. url p. 631.
- Select extra-tropical plants, readily eligible for industrial culture or naturalisation, with indications of their native countries and some of their uses. By Baron Ferd. von Mueller. .. Sydney, T. Richards, government printer, 1881. url p. 395, p. 97.
- Select plants (exclusive of timber trees) readily eligible for Victorian industrial culture with indications of their native countries and some of their uses; an enumeration / offered by Ferd. von Mueller. Melbourne: s.n., 1872 url p. 42.
- The Gardeners' chronicle and agricultural gazette. London: published for the proprietors, 1844-1873. url p. 776.
- The Gardeners' chronicle: a weekly illustrated journal of horticulture and allied subjects. London: [Gardeners Chronicle], 1874-1955. url p. 346.
- The botanic gardens list of rare and threatened species IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre url p. 9.
- The century supplement to the dictionary of gardening, a practical and scientific encyclopaedia of horticulture for gardeners and botanists / by Geo. Nicholson. .. [et al.]. Hyde Park, Mass.: Geo. T. King; 1901. url p. 276.
- The commercial products of the vegetable kingdom, considered in their various uses to man and in their relation to the arts and manufactures; forming a practical treatise and handbook of reference for the colonist, manufacturer, merchant, and consume London, Day, 1854. url p. 377.
- Fu Shu-hsia, Cheng Wan-chün, Fu Li-kuo & Chen Chia-jui. 1978. Cycadaceae. In: Cheng Wan-chün & Fu Li-kuo, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 7: 4-17.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 31, 2012.
- Hill, K.D. 2010. Cycas angulata. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 31January2012.
- IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.
Data Sources
Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 22, 2007:
- Australian National Herbarium
- , Australian National Herbarium
- Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
- National Herbarium of New South Wales, NSW herbarium collection
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3329979
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: IOP-454896
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13691479
- Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:296975-1
- International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 122102-3
- IUCN ID: 203687
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 432510
Footnotes
- Jiarui Chen & Dennis W. Stevenson "Cycadaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 4 Page 1. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
- "Cycas". in Flora of China Vol. 4 Page 1. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
- Mean = 35.480 meters (116.404 feet), Standard Deviation = 70.920 based on 21 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
