Sago Palm (Cycas revoluta)
Description
“Pet poisonous” – Toxic parts: entire plant esp seeds Cycas revoluta (Sotetsu, sago palm, king sago, sago cycad, Japanese sago palm), is a species of gymnosperm in the family Cycadaceae, native to southern Japan including the Ryukyu Islands. It is one of several species used for the production of sago, as well as an ornamental plant. This very symmetrical plant supports a crown of shiny, dark green leaves on a thick shaggy trunk that is typically about 20 cm (7.9 in) in diameter, sometimes wider. The trunk is very low to subterranean in young plants, but lengthens above ground with age. It can grow into very old specimens with 6–7 m (over 20 feet) of trunk; however, the plant is very slow-growing and requires about 50–100 years to achieve this height. Trunks can branch several times, thus producing multiple heads of leaves. The leaves are a deep semiglossy green and about 50–150 cm (20–59 in) long when the plants are of a reproductive age. They grow out into a feather-like rosette to 1 m (3.3 ft) in diameter. The crowded, stiff, narrow leaflets are 8–18 cm (3.1–7.1 in) long and have strongly recurved or revolute edges. The basal leaflets become more like spines. The petiole or stems of the sago cycad are 6–10 cm (2.4–3.9 in) long and have small protective barbs. Roots are called coralloid with an Anabaena symbiosis allowing nitrogen fixation. Tannins-rich cells are found on either side of the algal layer to resist the algal invasion.
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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