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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Cycas''
| image = Cycas inflorescence.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| image_caption = Leaves and male cone of ''Cycas revoluta''
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Cycad]]ophyta
| classis = [[Cycad]]opsida
| ordo = [[Cycad]]ales
| familia = '''Cycadaceae'''
| familia_authority = Persoon
| genus = '''''Cycas'''''
| genus_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
See [[Cycas#Species|Species Section]]
}}
[[Image:Rumphii1562.jpg|thumb|Bark of ''Cycas rumphii'']]
'''''Cycas''''' is the [[type genus]] and the only genus currently recognised in the [[cycad]] family '''Cycadaceae'''. About 95 species are currently accepted. The best-known species is ''[[Cycas revoluta]]'', widely cultivated under the name "Sago Palm" or "King Sago Palm" due to its palm-like appearance although it is not a true [[Arecaceae|palm]]. The generic name comes from [[Greek language|Greek]] ''kykas'' and means "palm tree".
The genus is native to the [[Old World]], with the species concentrated around the [[Equator|equatorial]] regions. It is native to eastern and southeastern [[Asia]] including the [[Philippines]] with 6 species (4 of which are endemic), eastern [[Africa]] (including [[Madagascar]]), northern [[Australia]], [[Polynesia]], and [[Micronesia]]. Australia has 26 species, while the Indo-Chinese area has about 30. The northernmost species (''C. revoluta'') is found at 31°N in southern [[Japan]]. The southernmost (''C. megacarpa'') is found at 26°S in southeast [[Queensland]], [[Australia]].
[[Image:Cycas_flower.jpg|thumb|A male cone of ''Cycas circinalis'']]
The plants are [[plant sexuality|dioecious]], and the family Cycadaceae is unique among the cycads in not forming seed [[conifer cone|cone]]s on female plants, but rather a group of leaf-like structures each with seeds on the lower margins, and pollen cones on male individuals.
The [[caudex]] is cylindrical, surrounded by the persistent [[Petiole (botany)|petiole]] base. Most species form distinct branched or unbranched trunks but in some species the main trunk can be subterranean with the leaf crown appearing to arise directly from the ground. The leaves are [[pinnate]] (or more rarely bipinnate) and arranged spirally, with thick and hard [[keratinose]]. The leaflets are articulated, have midrib but lack secondary veins. [[Megasporophyll]]s are not gathered in cones.
Often considered a [[living fossil]], the earliest [[fossil]]s of the genus ''Cycas'' appear in the [[Cenozoic]] although ''Cycas''-like fossils that may belong to Cycadaceae extend well into the [[Mesozoic]]. ''Cycas'' is not closely related to other genera of cycads, and phylogenetic studies have shown that Cycadaceae is the sister-group to all other extant cycads.
The plant takes several years to grow,sexual reproduction takes place after 10 years of exclusive vegetative growth.
===Species===
{|
|- valign=top
|
*''[[Cycas aculeata]]''
*''[[Cycas angulata]]''
*''[[Cycas annaikalensis]]''
*''[[Cycas apoa]]''
*''[[Cycas arenicola]]''
*''[[Cycas armstrongii]]''
*''[[Cycas arnhemica]]''
*''[[Cycas badensis]]''
*''[[Cycas balansae]]''
*''[[Cycas basaltica]]''
*''[[Cycas beddomei]]''
*''[[Cycas bifida]]''
*''[[Cycas bougainvilleana]]''
*''[[Cycas brachycantha]]''
*''[[Cycas brunnea]]''
*''[[Cycas cairnsiana]]''
*''[[Cycas calcicola]]''
*''[[Cycas campestris]]''
*''[[Cycas candida]]''
*''[[Cycas canalis]]''
*''[[Cycas chamaoensis]]''
*''[[Cycas changjiangensis]]''
*''[[Cycas chevalieri]]''
*''[[Cycas circinalis]]''
*''[[Cycas clivicola]]''
*''[[Cycas collina]]''
*''[[Cycas condaoensis]]''
*''[[Cycas conferta]]''
*''[[Cycas couttsiana]]''
*''[[Cycas curranii]]''
*''[[Cycas debaoensis]]''
*''[[Cycas desolata]]''
*''[[Cycas diannanensis]]''
|
*''[[Cycas dolichophylla]]''
*''[[Cycas edentata]]''
*''[[Cycas elephantipes]]''
*''[[Cycas elongata]]''
*''[[Cycas falcata]]''
*''[[Cycas fairylakea]]''
*''[[Cycas ferruginea]]''
*''[[Cycas fugax]]''
*''[[Cycas furfuracea]]''
*''[[Cycas guizhouensis]]''
*''[[Cycas hainanensis]]''
*''[[Cycas hoabinhensis]]''
*''[[Cycas hongheensis]]''
*''[[Cycas inermis]]''
*''[[Cycas javana]]''
*''[[Cycas lanepoolei]]''
*''[[Cycas lindstromii]]''
*''[[Cycas litoralis]]''
*''[[Cycas maconochiei]]''
*''[[Cycas macrocarpa]]''
*''[[Cycas media]]''
*''[[Cycas megacarpa]]''
*''[[Cycas micholitzii]]''
*''[[Cycas micronesica]]''
*''[[Cycas multipinnata]]''
*''[[Cycas nathorstii]]''
*''[[Cycas nongnoochiae]]''
*''[[Cycas ophiolitica]]''
*''[[Cycas orientis]]''
*''[[Cycas pachypoda]]''
*''[[Cycas panzhihuaensis]]''
*''[[Cycas papuana]]''
|
*''[[Cycas pectinata]]''
*''[[Cycas petraea]]''
*''[[Cycas platyphylla]]''
*''[[Cycas pranburiensis]]''
*''[[Cycas pruinosa]]''
*''[[Cycas revoluta]]''
*''[[Cycas riuminiana]]''
*''[[Cycas rumphii]]''
*''[[Cycas schumanniana]]''
*''[[Cycas scratchleyana]]''
*''[[Cycas seemafaux]]''
*''[[Cycas segmentifida]]''
*''[[Cycas semota]]''
*''[[Cycas sexseminifera]]''
*''[[Cycas siamensis]]''
*''[[Cycas silvestris]]''
*''[[Cycas simplicipinna]]''
*''[[Cycas spherica]]''
*''[[Cycas szechuanensis]]''
*''[[Cycas taitungensis]]''
*''[[Cycas taiwaniana]]''
*''[[Cycas tanqingii]]''
*''[[Cycas tansachana]]''
*''[[Cycas thouarsii]]''
*''[[Cycas tropophylla]]''
*''[[Cycas tuckeri]]''
*''[[Cycas wadei]]''
*''[[Cycas xipholepis]]''
*''[[Cycas yorkiana]]''
*''[[Cycas yunnanensis]]''
*''[[Cycas zambalensis]]''
*''[[Cycas zeylanica]]''
|}
==References and external links==
*[http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/PlantNet/cycad/cyckey.html Cycad Pages: ''Cycas'']
*Singh, R., & Radha P. (2006). Cycas annaikalensis, A new species of Cycas from the Malabar Coast, Western Ghats, India. ''Brittonia'' 58 (2): 119-123.
[[Category:Cycads]]
[[Category:Plant families]]