Cycas revoluta (Sago Palm)

Common Names: Sago Palm, Japanese Cycad, Sago Cycad, Japanses Sago Palm, Cycad, Japanese Fern Palm

Botanical Name: Cycas revoluta Thunb

Synonyms: Cycas aurea J.Verschaff., Cycas inermis Oudem., Cycas miquelii Warb.

Family: Cycadaceae

Features:

  • Dioecious, slow-growing, evergreen, palm-like plant
  • Upright growth habit, height up to 5 m, typically shorter
  • Native to China, Japan, and East Taiwan
  • Popular ornamental for unique, symmetrical rosette of stiff, feathery leaves
  • Slow-growing nature makes it desirable for landscapes and gardens
  • Commonly used as a focal plant in containers or rockeries
  • Low maintenance and drought-tolerant
  • Suitable for indoor or outdoor decoration in tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions

Dioecious evergreen palm-like plants, upright, often suckering; females from base, males branching from apex post-coning; height to 5 m, typically shorter; slow-growing. Leaf scars, persistent leaf bases present. Leaves pinnately compound, 1–1.5 m long, in rosettes; leaflets to 18 cm long, 7 mm wide, glossy green, sharp apex, revolute margins, stiff, leathery; leaflets at rachis base reduced to prickles; petiole spinose.

Cultivation: Grows in full sun to partial shade, tolerates various well-drained soils, and is moderately salt-tolerant. Propagation involves mature seeds with fully developed embryos or rooting of side shoots.

Etymology: The genus name “Cycas” is derived from the Greek word koikos, historically used to refer to a type of palm, reflecting its resemblance to palms. The species epithet “revoluta” is Latin for rolled back, describing the plant’s leaflets, which curve downward along their edges.

Shopping Cart