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This cycad is characterized by an upright stem reaching up to 1 meter in height and 25–30 cm in diameter. It often produces secondary stems from basal suckers. Its pinnate leaves form a crown at the top of the stem, ranging in color from gray-greenish to blue and reaching lengths of up to 1.4 meters.
Encephalartos is a genus of cycad native to Africa. Several species of Encephalartos are commonly referred to as bread trees, [2] bread palms [3] or kaffir bread, [4] since a bread-like starchy food can be prepared from the centre of the stem.
Cycads all over the world are in decline, with four species on the brink of extinction and seven species have fewer than 100 plants left in the wild. [ 2 ] 23,420 species of vascular plant have been recorded in South Africa, making it the sixth most species-rich country in the world and the most species-rich country on the African continent.
While there are more than 200 species of cycads, only one is native to Florida, and only a couple are popular landscaping plants in our area.
Leaf spots are visible symptoms of virus infections on plants, and are referred to as systemic symptoms. [7] In systematic virus infections leaf spots caused by viruses show a loss of green colour in leaves, due to chlorosis which is a repression of chlorophyll development. [ 1 ]
Plants with microphyll leaves occur early in the fossil record, and few such plants exist today. In the classical concept of a microphyll, the leaf vein emerges from the protostele without leaving a leaf gap. Leaf gaps are small areas above the node of some leaves where there is no vascular tissue, as it has all been diverted to the leaf.
In order to produce sago, cycasin and other cycad toxins must be removed from the flesh of the plants. The flesh, seeds, and roots of the cycad are first dried and ground into a fine powder, before being submerged in boiling water. The water is then allowed to drain, leaching out the toxic material while leaving the starch behind.
As with all cycads, members of the Zamiaceae are poisonous, producing poisonous glycosides known as cycasins. The former family Stangeriaceae (which contained Bowenia and Stangeria) has been shown to be nested within Zamiaceae by phylogenetic analysis. [1] The family first began to diversify during the Cretaceous period. [2] [3]