Cycad appreciation

[Tortuga]

Does anyone enjoy growing Cycad species?

In my zone Cycas revoluta (Sago 'palm') grows well but that is all I see in my local residential landscapes.

I started growing Zamia furfuracea (Cardboard palm) because its textured foliage really got my attention.

Encephalartos horridus is at the top of my wishlist to grow from seed.

Anyone care to share their cycad photos?

[roblack]

I agree Tortuga, cycads are cool plants to have around.

[fliptop]

[roblack]

Ground corn

[tru]

man ok I'll admit these do look really cool... but aren't they dangerous?

[Jaboticaba45]

My friend brought back some florida arrowroot seeds he found, but I ended up misplacing them. Oops. Looks really cool.

[Tortuga]

man ok I'll admit these do look really cool... but aren't they dangerous?

They are only dangerous if you eat the seeds.

There are some native tribes in Indonesia, primarily Papa New Guinea, that will have sago festivals and cut these down and process the core (the only edible part). The true delicacy is the sago palm weevil grub that gets wrapped within the starch of the sago and is eaten.

I have some big respect for cycads as it's one of the oldest arboreal plant lineages. It's over 280 million years old and survived 3 mass extinctions

[bulldawg305]

Be careful with these if you have a dog or puppy that eats everything in your yard. I know of a dog that got poisoned and died from eating the red coontie fruits/seeds.

[Galatians522]

I have been confused in the past about which sago exactly is used to produce the edible starch. As I recall there is a palm (Metroxylon sagu) and a cycad (Cycas revolts) with the sago name. I think its the palm that is used for food.

[joe_OC]

I was into palms and cycads before getting into tropical fruits.  It's another rabbit hole you can go very deep in.