Volume 2 > Part 2 > Year 1972 > Page 186 > Cycadaceae > Cycas

2. Cycas rumphii Miq.wfo-0000631644

Bull. Sci. phys.nat. Neerl. 2: 45. 1839; Monogr. Cycad.: 29. 1842; Kurz, Fl. Burm. 2: 502. 1877; Dyer in Hook.f., Fl. Br. Ind. 5: 657. 1890; Ridl., Fl. Malay Penins. 5: 284. 1925; Léandri in Fl. Gén. I.-C. 5: 1090. 1931; Schuster in Pflanzenr. 99: 74. 1931, p.p.; Raizada&Sahni, Indian Forest Rec. n.s. Bot. 5: 97. 1960; Smitin., Nat. Hist. Bull. Siam Soc. 24: 173. 1971. Figs. 13b, 14d.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Tree 3–7 m high, trunk rough, simple or sometimes forked; often with bud sprouts towards the base. Leaves 1–2 m long, closely whorled at the top of the stem, dark green, glossy; leaflets 50–60 pairs, 20–38 cm long, 1.2–1.7 cm wide, confluent in the upper part of the leaf, linear-acute, coriaceous, midrib grooved on both surfaces; petiole very broad at the base, thorny. Leaf bases greyish brown, tomentose. Male cone about 30 cm long, about 10 cm across, orange-coloured, coarsely scented. Microsporophylls about 2 cm long, obcuneate with a fairly long upcurved, not spinescent acumen. Macrosporophylls about 23 cm long, 1.2 cm wide; sterile part ovate to ovate-lanceolate, densely villous, teeth small. Ovules 4 pairs in the notches below the sterile part. Seed globular, about 5 cm across, smooth, orange-coloured when ripe.

Thailand : SOUTH-EASTERN: Trat (Ko Kut, Ko Chang); PENINSULAR: Chumphon (Ban Thung Maha), Surat Thani (Ko Tab), Ranong (Ko Chang), Phangnga (Takua Pa, Ko Ngai), Trang (Kantang).

Distribution : Ceylon, Andaman Islands, S Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam, throughout Malesia (Moluccas – type), N Australia, Mauritius, Comoro Islands, N & E Madagascar, and E Africa.

Ecology : The tree inhabits sandy seashores and beach forests.

Vernacular : Prong (ปรง)(Southeastern, Peninsular); prong tha-le (ปรงทะเล)(Preferred).

Uses: A starch is extracted from the trunk; the seeds are edible when cooked, but poisonous when eaten raw.

E-version notes : Not regarded as indigenous in Thailand, native to Moluccan, S Borneo, Java, New Guinea, Sulawesi, see Hill, K.D. & Yang, S.L. (1999). The genus Cycas (Cycadaceae) in Thailand. Brittonia 51: 48-73. https://doi.org/10.2307/2666557