CYCAS BEDDOMEI DYER

 

 

Vernacular Name               : PAREETHA,KONDAITHA,
                                               MADHANA-KAMAKSHI
 

Family                                 : CYCADACEAE

 

Conservation Status          : CRITICAL ENDANGERED GLOBALLY
                                              (CAMP., A.P., 2001); (CR) G.
 

  • Only gymnosperm species.

  • It was included in the list of specified plants, as per schedule 6 of Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972.

  • It occurs at an altitude of 650-1500 m.

  • Cycas beddomei Dyer are C3 plants.1

  • Small palm-like shrub, stem up to 1.5 m long often shorter, diameter up to 15 cm.

  • Leaves about 1 m long, Leaflets narrow, about 2.0–3.5 mm wide.

  • Megasporophyll ferruginous–tomentose, blade ovate, lanceolate with deeply dentate margins.

  • Ovules usually 2 but often up to 4 and rarely 6–8 per megasporophyll, ovules about 5.5 cm long and 4 cm in diameter, ovoid, globose.2
     

Economic importance

  • Cycas beddomei (Pith) eaten as flour in India.

  • Sago from the pith for flour and bread in India.

  • Cycad sp. are popular ornamental plants.

Medicinal importance

  • Male cones of C. beddomei are harvested for medicinal uses (in Ayurveda System of Medicine).3
     

References

  1. C. S. Prabhakar and K. R. Rao. Photorespiration studies in Cycas circinalis L. and Cycas beddomei Dyer Photosynthesis Research 2( 4) 1981: 297-300.

  2. Muniappan R , V iraktamath CA. The Asian cycad scale Aulocaspis yasumatsui, a threat to native cycads in India. Current Science 2006;91(7): 868-870.

  3. Jones, D. L., Cycads of the World, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC, 1993, p. 312.
     

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