Cycas szechuanensis fairylakea

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Critically Endangered

Interesting Facts

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]

Habitat

Biome: Terrestrial [3].

Ecology: This subspecies grows in moist closed forests .[3].

List of Habitats :

•     1     Forest   
  
•     1.6     Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland   
[more info]

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Cycas fairylakea

Notes

This taxon was described at specific rank in 1996 by Chinese botanist D.Y. Yang. This subspecies was rediscovered in the wild only in 2000. Before this, it had been regarded as conspecific with C. taiwaniana (Chen and Stevenson 1999).[3].

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

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Further Reading

• Chen, C.J. and Stevenson, D.W. 1999. Cycadaceae. In: Z.Y. Wu and P.H. Raven (eds), Flora of China, pp. 1-7. Science Press, Beijing & Missouri Botanical Garden, Saint Louis.
• Hill, K.D. 2008. The genus Cycas (Cycadaceae) in China. Telopea 12(1): 71-118.
• Hill, K.D. and Stevenson, D.W. 1998-2006. The Cycad Pages. Available at: http://plantNet.rbgsyd.gov.au/plantNet/cycad/.
• IUCN. 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2010.3). Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 2 September 2010).
• Shuguang, J., Nian, L., Zezheng, G., Qiang, W., Zhenhua, X., Mei, W. and Hai, R. 2006. Biological characteristics of wild Cycas fairylakea population in Guangdong Province, China. Frontiers of Biology in China 1(4): 430-433.
• Wang, F., Liang H., Tanqing, C. and Dingyue, W. (eds ). 1996. Cycads in China. Guangdong Science and Technology Press, Guangdong, China.
• 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.

Identifiers

• IUCN ID: 16386
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 4748029

Footnotes

1. 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]
2. "Cycas". in Flora of China Vol. 4 Page 1. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
3. Hill, K.D 2010. Cycas szechuanensis ssp. fairylakea. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 31 January 2012. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.