Cycad (Cycas)
Description
“Pet poisonous” – Toxic parts: entire plant esp seeds Cycas is the type genus and the only genus recognised in the family Cycadaceae. About 113 species are accepted. Cycas circinalis, a species endemic to India was the first cycad species to be described and was the type of the generic name, Cycas. The best-known Cycas species is Cycas revoluta. Cycas is a very ancient genus of trees. The group achieved its maximum diversity in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, when it was distributed almost worldwide. At the end of the Cretaceous, when the non-avian dinosaurs became extinct, so did most of the cycas in the Northern Hemisphere. The genus is native to the Old World, with the species concentrated around the equatorial regions - eastern and southeastern Asia including the Philippines with 10 species (9 of which are endemic), eastern Africa (including Madagascar), northern Australia, Polynesia, and Micronesia. Australia has 26 species, while the Indo-Chinese area has about 30. India has 9 species. The northernmost species (C. revoluta) is found at 31°N in southern Japan. The southernmost (C. megacarpa) is found at 26°S in southeast Queensland. Due to the occurrence of large number of Cycas species in China, Australia and India, those countries are considered as centres of Cycas diversity.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum: Cycadophyta
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Class: Cycadopsida
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Order: Cycadales
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Family: Cycadaceae
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Genus: Cycas
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