- Cycas balansae
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Cycas balansae Conservation status Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae Division: Cycadophyta Class: Cycadopsida Order: Cycadales Family: Cycadaceae Genus: Cycas Species: C. balansae Binomial name 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.
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.
References
Categories:- IUCN Red List near threatened species
- Cycas
- Flora of China
- Near threatened plants
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