Cycas zeylanica
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Cycas zeylanica | |
|---|---|
 | |
| In Lund Botanical Gardens | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Gymnospermae |
| Division: | Cycadophyta |
| Class: | Cycadopsida |
| Order: | Cycadales |
| Family: | Cycadaceae |
| Genus: | Cycas |
| Species: | C. zeylanica |
| Binomial name | |
| Cycas zeylanica (J.Schust.) A.Lindstr. & K.D.Hill | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
|
Cycas rumphii subsp. zeylanica J.Schust. | |
Cycas zeylanica, common name (in Sri Lanka) maha-madu is a plant apparently at present endemic to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It was formerly also present in Sri Lanka, but a majority of the population there were destroyed by the tsunami of December 2004.[1][3] A few trees are cited in Hanguranketha town Adikarigama area.
Cycas zeylanica is an unbranched shrub up to 3 m (9.8 ft) tall. Leaves are up to 200 cm (79 in) long, green, glossy, pinnately compound with up to 100 leaflets. Pollen-producing cones fusiform (tapering at both ends), microsporophylls (male, pollen-producing) up to 45 mm (1.8 in) long. Megasporophylls (female, ovule-producing) up to 30 cm (12 in) long, each with 2-5 ovules. Seeds flattened to ovoid, orange-brown.[4][5]