What do Cycads look like?
Although they look like ferns, cycads are a closer relative to conifers. Both bear their seeds in cones and have separate male and female plants.
If you have a female cycad plant in your garden (the most popular are Macrozamia and Cycas) it may display a large cone in April, chock full of brilliant orange or red shiny seeds. As the cone matures the seeds spill out and foraging marsupials, large birds and even fruit bats will feed on them. After eating the outer covering, the animal discards the hard seeds, distributing them over a wide area.
Where are Cycads found?
Australia’s 30 or so species of cycads grow along the tropical and subtropical east coast and in the south-west. The Daintree region of far north Queensland and the New South Wales central coast are particularly rich in cycads. One species occurs in arid Central Australia. While there are no wild cycads in the southern states, Victoria’s rich ancient cycad fossil beds tell a different story about the past.
Fast facts:
- Cycads have existed since the Jurassic Period 200 million years ago, and still thrive today in many different habitats around the world.
- Most parts of a cycad plant including the raw seeds are highly poisonous to humans, dogs, cattle and sheep. Aboriginal people developed a method of soaking or ageing the seeds which rendered the toxins harmless and the seeds edible.
Cycads
Cycads have existed since the Jurassic Period 200 million years ago, and still thrive today in many different habitats around the world.
Cycads are incredibly long-lived, with some individuals in the wild estimated to be around 1,000 years old. One of the oldest cycads “in captivity” is in Kew Gardens in London, and it at least 228 years old.
Part of the secret of their longevity is that they grow very slowly – producing just a few leaves each year.
If you have a female cycad plant in your garden (the most popular are Macrozamia and Cycas) it may display a large cone in April, chock full of brilliant orange or red shiny seeds. As the cone matures the seeds spill out and foraging marsupials, large birds and even fruit bats will feed on them. After eating the outer covering, the animal discards the hard seeds, distributing them over a wide area.
Most parts of a cycad plant including the raw seeds are highly poisonous to humans, dogs, cattle and sheep. Aboriginal people developed a method of soaking or ageing the seeds which rendered the toxins harmless and the seeds edible.
For many years it was thought cycads were wind pollinated, however it is now known that many cycads rely on weevils to pollinate them. The relationship is quite specific – a single weevil species attaches to a certain species of cycad and will always pollinate only that species.
Australia’s 30 or so species of cycads grow along the tropical and subtropical east coast and in the south-west. The Daintree region of far north Queensland and the New South Wales central coast are particularly rich in cycads. One species occurs in arid Central Australia. While there are no wild cycads in the southern states, Victoria’s rich ancient cycad fossil beds tell a different story about the past.
Did you know?
Although they look like ferns, cycads are a closer relative to conifers. Both bear their seeds in cones and have separate male and female plants.
