Cycas revoluta (Sago Palm)

Common NamesSago Palm, Japanese Cycad, Sago Cycad, Japanses Sago Palm, Cycad, Japanese Fern Palm

Botanical NameCycas revoluta Thunb

SynonymsCycas aurea J.Verschaff., Cycas inermis Oudem., Cycas miquelii Warb.

Family: Cycadaceae

Features:

  • Dioecious, slow-growing, evergreen, palm-like plant
  • Upright growth habit, height up to 5 m, typically shorter
  • Native to China, Japan, and East Taiwan
  • Popular ornamental for unique, symmetrical rosette of stiff, feathery leaves
  • Slow-growing nature makes it desirable for landscapes and gardens
  • Commonly used as a focal plant in containers or rockeries
  • Low maintenance and drought-tolerant
  • Suitable for indoor or outdoor decoration in tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions

Dioecious evergreen palm-like plants, upright, often suckering; females from base, males branching from apex post-coning; height to 5 m, typically shorter; slow-growing. Leaf scars, persistent leaf bases present. Leaves pinnately compound, 1–1.5 m long, in rosettes; leaflets to 18 cm long, 7 mm wide, glossy green, sharp apex, revolute margins, stiff, leathery; leaflets at rachis base reduced to prickles; petiole spinose.

Cultivation: Grows in full sun to partial shade, tolerates various well-drained soils, and is moderately salt-tolerant. Propagation involves mature seeds with fully developed embryos or rooting of side shoots.

Etymology: The genus name “Cycas” is derived from the Greek word koikos, historically used to refer to a type of palm, reflecting its resemblance to palms. The species epithet “revoluta” is Latin for rolled back, describing the plant’s leaflets, which curve downward along their edges.

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