Order Cycadales Higher classification Cycad | Family Cycadaceae Scientific name Cycas balansae Rank Species | |
Similar Cycad, Cycadales, Cycas hainanensis, Cycas bougainvilleana, Cycas arnhemica | ||
Cycas balansae is a species of cycad in the genus Cycas, native to southwestern China (southeast Guangxi) and adjacent northern Vietnam (near Hanoi), where it occurs in dense mountain rainforests.
It has a subterranean, unbranched stem 12–20 cm in diameter, bearing 4-9 leaves, each leaf 1.2-2.6 m long, pinnate with 90-160 leaflets, and armed with spines along the petiole. The leaflets are papery in texture, and angled forward at 80 degrees.
The female cones are closed type, 8–12 cm long sporophylls with 2-4 ovules. Lateral spines present in lamina, apical spines not distinct, with yellow sarcotesta. The male cones are yellow, solitary, erect, 20–25 cm long and 4–7 cm diameter, with wedge shaped sporophylls.
Cultivation
It is cultivated as a pot plant in its native range, but is not seen with any frequency outside of this area.
It is named after the French botanist Benedict Balansa.
