The Ultimate Jurassic Plant (Cycad)

Cycads are an ancient group of seed plants survive to this modern day from the Triassic period. It is one of the rare plants that still survived over million years ago since the time of dinosaur. Although they looked like palms or ferns, they are actually not related to either.

Due to their large attractive leaves, many cycads planted as landscape plants. The above photograph is a pair of cycads species Cycas circinalis that can be found at The Datai, Langkawi. The other species that can be found at Langkawi are Cycas siamensis, Cycas clivicola and Cycas rumphii. 

The interesting facts about this plants are they can survive over 1000 years in the wild. As we can see they typically have a crown of large compound leaves and a stout trunk. The other fascinating things about Cycads is the way they reproduce. They’re dioecious, which means that male and female cones are born on separate plants. Cycads are drought-tolerant species of plants that need a little water to survive due to their deeper roots that can reach water deeper under the soil.