Cycas balansae
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| iCycas balansae | ||||||||||||||
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| Cycas balansae Warb. |
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.
[edit] 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.
