Cycas Revoluta

This very symmetrical plant supports a crown of shiny, light blue leaves on a thin shaggy trunk that is typically about 20 cm (7.9 in) in diameter, sometimes wider. The trunk is very high 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 multiple times, thus producing multiple heads of leaves.

he 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 that must be avoided.

Propagation of Cycas revoluta is either by seed or by removal of basal offsets. As with other cycads, it is dioecious, with the males bearing cones and the females bearing groups of megasporophylls. Pollination can be done naturally by insects or artificially.

for more details source: Wikipedia

The Cycas is not a palm but it is dealt with here because it looks so much like one. The Cycas species are really ancient plants. About 200 million years ago the Cicadaceae were wide-spread in the Triassic period but there are now only eight species left one being Cycas revoluta from Japan and Taiwan. On Java this plant is grown for the edible marrow of its stem, the sago.

Of the Cycas palms, Cycas revoluta is the one most often offered as a house plant. It has a hairy, scaly egg-shaped trunk at the top of which very regularly feathered leaves develop. When the young leaves unfurl they are soft and vulnerable, later they become hard and sturdy each with a spiny tip. When it gets older the Cycas may flower. There are male and female plants. The male plant produces a cone at its centre while the female plant produces a mass of ovaries which, after fertilization, turn into orange- yellow, woolly seeds, about the size of a large bean. These lie open in the heart of the plant and it is therefore called “naked- seeded”. Put Cycas revoluta in a warm, light spot and protect it against the fierce afternoon sun. The old leaves will gradually die off and the new ones which replace them are, each time, a bit longer than the previous ones. The leaves of very old plants can be more than lm (6ft) long. If you manage to keep the plant alive for a very long time, it will gradually develop a small trunk. Only feed the plant when a new tuft of leaves unfurls. Do not pot-on too soon and do not disturb the top layer of soil because that is where important, fragile roots grow. Keep the compost moist, but never wet. This plant, which is not very prone to pests and diseases, may then live for a long time.