2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Cycad drooping (Latin Cycas revoluta) - tree-like evergreen plant
genus Cycad (lat. Cycas)
family Cycadaceae (lat. Cycadaceae) … It grows in the subtropics of the Land of the Rising Sun and is the most famous species of the numerous Cycovnik genus. This is not only a very ancient representative of the terrestrial flora, preserved from the Jurassic period, but also one of the longest-livers of the planet, capable of living up to a hundred years.
Description
The drooping cycad, like its counterparts in the genus, is a dioecious plant. Its columnar trunk, protected from the influence of the environment by a hard shell of the bases of the leaves that have outlived their life, adorns itself with a rosette of feathery dark green leaves, effectively disintegrating in different directions, like the leaves of the Palm. People inexperienced in botany often mistake Cygad drooping for one of the varieties of Palm. However, Cycad is an older creation of nature than the Palm, possessing a very simple organism, which in its genetics is much closer to the Fern, which also lived in the lush forests of the Jurassic period.
The Cycad drooping grows very slowly, reaching, as a rule, a height of three to three and a half meters. Some old-timers can grow up to seven meters. Large cones grow on males, the pollen from which is carried by insects and wind to the sporophylls of females. The roots of the plant are capable of fixing nitrogen from the soil.
The drooping cycad grows more successfully in sunny places, but it also tolerates partial shade. The plant is unpretentious to soils, can grow on both dry and wet soil, but thrives in dry soils.
Use in horticulture
The drooping cycad is a very spectacular plant that lives for a long time, growing slowly, which is suitable for growing it not only in the open field, but also as a plant in greenhouses and indoor spaces. Compared to its counterparts, this species of the genus is quite cold-resistant, withstanding short frosts down to minus ten degrees, and therefore this plant can be found, for example, in the UK. In our country, the drooping Cycad grows in open ground on the Black Sea coast.
The picturesque plant is given by its dark green feathery leaves, the length of which varies from half a meter to one and a half meters. With such a length, the stems droop beautifully to the surface of the earth, creating a semblance of a low palm tree.
The organs of reproduction of the Cygad are also adornments, especially the cones of males.
Cooking use
The stems of the Cycad drooping, like many other representatives of the genus, contain a starchy substance that locals actively use in their diet. Although the plant contains toxic substances, the toxicity disappears after heat treatment.
Cycad stems are dried, crushed to a powder and mixed with brown rice. The starchy core of the trunk is cut into pieces and eaten baked, or turned into a starchy powder, from which dumplings are prepared, as well as cereals called "sago".
Healing abilities
The toxicity of Cygad drooping in metered quantities is used by healers of human ailments as an expectorant, diuretic, tonic, astringent.
Cygad drooping leaves are used in the treatment of malignant tumors, in particular, liver cancer.
Seeds relieve cough (expectorant). They are used as a tonic and also as a menstrual stimulant. Used in the treatment of rheumatism. Substances isolated from seeds slow down the growth of cancerous tumors.
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