What is a cycad?
Cycads are plants which are often confused with ferns or palms, but are closely related to neither. It is easy to see why the mix-up arises. Tree ferns, palms, and cycads all have a central trunk topped by a whorl of leaves, usually without any side branches. The leaves of cycads, many ferns, and many palms have a central stalk or rachis flanked by rows of narrow leaflets on both sides. But these similarities are deceptive. When it is time to reproduce, each group has its own distinctive way of doing so: ferns bear spores on the undersides of their leaflets (occasionally only on a few specialized leaves); palms bear flowers which, when fertilized, set seeds such as dates and coconuts; and cycads produce cones in the center of the leaf whorl, with male and female cones occurring on separate plants. Because their seeds are borne in cones, the closest living relatives of cycads are evergreen coniferous trees like pines, spruces, and firs. Cycads and their relatives, mainly conifers and th
