Cycas platyphylla
Species of cycad
| Cycas platyphylla | |
|---|---|
 | |
Conservation status | |
 Endangered (IUCN 3.1) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Gymnospermae |
| Division: | Cycadophyta |
| Class: | Cycadopsida |
| Order: | Cycadales |
| Family: | Cycadaceae |
| Genus: | Cycas |
| Species: | C. platyphylla |
| Binomial name | |
| Cycas platyphylla K.D.Hill | |
Cycas platyphylla is a cycad in the genus Cycas, native to Queensland, Australia.
The stems are erect or decumbent, growing to 1.5 m tall but most often less than a metre. The leaves are pinnate, keeled, 60–100 cm long. New fronds are glaucous blue at first, becoming dark yellow-green, moderately glossy above. Megasporophylls are thickly covered in orange indumentum and the developing seeds have an intensely glaucous sarcotesta.
Habitat
This cycad has a main distribution in sparse Eucalyptus savanna on skeletal soils over outcrops of rhyolite or basalt west of the Atherton Tableland in north-east Queensland. This species is fire tolerant. It grows abundantly in cool habitat
Gallery
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Wild plant in open savanna in north Queensland -
With fire-blackened, branched caudex -
Megasporophylls on a wild plant -
Colony on an outcrop of rhyolite in open dry-tropical savanna in northern Queensland
References
- Cycad Pages: Cycas platyphylla Archived 2013-05-10 at the Wayback Machine
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Cycas platyphylla
