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Cycads in South Africa. Cycads / ˈ s aɪ k æ d z / are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody trunk with a crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants of a species are either male or female. Cycads vary in size from having trunks only a few centimeters ...
Cycads all over the world are in decline, with four species on the brink of extinction and seven species have fewer than 100 plants left in the wild. [ 2 ] 23,420 species of vascular plant have been recorded in South Africa, making it the sixth most species-rich country in the world and the most species-rich country on the African continent.
This cycad contains reddish seed cones with a distinct acuminate tip. The leaves are 60–120 cm (2.0–3.9 ft) long, with 5-30 pairs of leaflets (pinnae). Each leaflet is linear to lanceolate or oblong-obovate, 8–25 cm long and 0.5–2 cm broad, with distinct teeth at the tip.
Cycas is a genus of cycad, and the only genus in the family Cycadaceae with all other genera of cycad being divided between the Stangeriaceae and Zamiaceae families. Cycas circinalis, a species endemic to India, was the first cycad species to be described in western literature, and is the type species of the genus. [4] [5]
The ingestion of raw cycad seeds by an animal can lead to death and cause nausea and diarrhea in humans as well as death in some cases. [15] Cycad leaves are also dangerous due to β-Methylamino-L-alanine and have been recorded to cause hind end paralysis and death in cattle. [19]
As with all cycads this species is dioecious. Male plants may carry up to 15 cones, whereas only one or two occur on the females. The seeds, embedded in bright-red flesh are eaten and distributed by the purple-crested lourie (Tauraco porphyreolophus) and by the trumpeter hornbill (Bycanistes bucinator). [3]
The seeds when mature measure about 5 cm (2.0 in) long by 4 cm (1.6 in) wide and are sheathed in a bright red sarcotesta. [4] [5] [6] It is reputed to be the tallest known species of cycad and it towers over other understorey vegetation, but rarely reaches the forest canopy. [6] [7]: 4
Cycas thouarsii, the Madagascar cycad, is an evergreen arborescent cycad in the genus Cycas. It is named after the French botanist Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars (1758—1831). Description