Volume 2 > Part 2 > Year 1972 > Page 190 > Cycadaceae > Cycas

4. Cycas pectinata Griff.

Not. Pl. As. 4.: 10. t. 360. f. 3. 1854; Kurz, Fl. Burm. 2: 503. 1877; Dyer in Hook.f., Fl. Br. Ind. 5: 567. 1890; Brand., Ind. Trees: 698. 1921; Leandri in Fl. Gén. I.-C. 5: 1090. 1931; Raizada & Sahni, Indian Forest Rec. n.s. Bot. 5: 96. 1960; Smitin., Nat. Hist. Bull. Siam Soc. 24: 172. 1971. Figs. 13d, 14a.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Glabrous tree 2–6 m high, trunk often branched. Leaves 1.50–2.00 mlong. Leaflets 17–25 cm long, 5–10 mm wide, narrow linear, tapering into a minute spine, subfalcate; midrib slightly prominent on both surfaces. Petiole about 45 cm long with a few small distant spines. Leaf bases tawny pilose. Male cone about 45 cm long, 15 cm wide, cylindric-ovoid to spindle-shaped. Microsporophylls about 4 cm long 2.5 cm wide, deltoid-clavate, apex much thickened, abruptly acuminate, terminal point about 4 cm long, subulate, ascending. Macrosporophylls 16 cm long; densely tawny silky throughout, stalk as long as sterile part; sterile part triangular-cordate, 7–10 cm diameter, margin deeply pectinate with subulate teeth about 2 cm long; terminal point about 4 cm long, tapering from a flat base, with one or two subulate teeth. Ovules 2–3 pairs above the middle of the stalk. Seed about 4 cm long, ovoid, glabrous, orange or yellow-orange.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Chiang Mai, Phrae, Sukhothai; NORTH-EASTERN: Loei (Phu Kradueng); CENTRAL: Lop Buri; PENINSULAR: Chumphon, Surat Thani, Krabi, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Satun, Yala.

Distribution : N India (Assam – type), Nepal, Sikkim, S China (Kweichow), Bangladesh (Chittagong), Burma, Laos?, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malesia.

Ecology : In evergreen forests and pine forests, frequently found on limestone-bearing soil and open limestone cliffs and ridges of 600–2,000 m alt.

Vernacular : Plong (ปลง)(Northern); prong khao (ปรงเขา)(Peninsular); bo-ka (บอกะ)(Malay-Peninsular).

Uses: According to Raizada & Sahni (loc. cit.), seeds and tender fleshy shoots are used as vegetable by the hill tribes of Assam; the fleshy stem is pounded and used as a hair wash for diseased hair roots.