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Cycad family🌴
Cycadaceae
ソテツ科
One of the most ancient lineages among extant gymnosperms. Dioecious, characterized by large pinnately compound leaves and cones (female plants bear seeds directly). In Japan, a single species (Cycas revoluta) occurs naturally near coasts of the southwestern islands.
Key Characteristics
- ●Dioecious
- ●Large pinnately compound leaves densely spiraling at the trunk apex
- ●Male cones erect and cylindrical; female plants bear seeds on large pinnate megasporophylls
- ●Coralloid roots harboring symbiotic cyanobacteria for nitrogen fixation
Morphological Traits
A family may include species with different trait values — multiple values indicate the range within the family.
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf type
Compound
Venation
Parallel
Leaf margin
Entire
Leaf shape
Linear
Growth form
Tree / Shrub
Evergreen/Deciduous
Evergreen
Compound type
Pinnate
Stipules
Absent
Petal fusion
No petals
Ovary position
Superior
Plant sex
Dioecious
Phylogenetic Position
Gymnosperms > Cycadopsida > Cycadales > Cycadaceae
Divergence Era
Paleozoic Permian to Mesozoic Triassic (approx. 280 million years ago onward)
Representative Genera
Related Evolution Events
- ・A 'living fossil' lineage that survived the end-Paleozoic mass extinction
- ・Acquisition of coralloid roots with symbiotic cyanobacteria
Plants in Cycad family on this site
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