Cycas Revoluta Seeds Sago Palm

LATIN NAME: Cycas revoluta

COMMON NAME: Sago Palm

The sago palm holds its stiff, feathery, dark-green leaves in the dense rosette, and the whole plant stands like a slow, living fossil. The slow-growing, evergreen, palm-like plant carries the dense rosette of the many stiff, feathery, pinnate, dark-green, glossy leaves and, on the mature plants, the large, cone-like reproductive structures through the warm season, one of the fine, bold sights of the dry garden, the leaves best kept for the foliage, not for the plate. The plant is a fine, historic presence of the dry garden, and it is a plant of the open, sunny, sharp-draining ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The sago palm is a historic subject of the plant science, and the feathery leaves keep showing up in the work on the ancient cycads. The way the dense rosette of the stiff, feathery, pinnate leaves forms on the slow-growing trunk has been studied at length, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the ancient cycads, the cone-bearing plants and the members of the cycad family. The slow habit and the palm-like form have also made it a fine study plant, and the sago palm is a regular subject of the work on the feathery leaves of the old world.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The sago palm is a fine, bold plant of the dry garden and the study collection. The dense rosette of the many stiff, feathery, pinnate, dark-green, glossy leaves stands through the year, one of the fine, bold sights of the dry garden, and the mature plants put on the large, cone-like reproductive structures through the warm season. It is one of the fine choices for the dry garden, the conservatory and the study collection, and it has been written about in the horticultural and the botanical papers for the feathery leaves and the ancient ways. It is a fine, bold plant of the open, sunny, sharp-draining garden.

Give the young plants the warmth and the sharp-draining soil, and the rosettes will rise over the years.

To grow the sago palm from seed, sow the large, round, orange seeds a centimetre down in the pot of gritty, sharp-draining soil, keep the pot in a warm, bright spot and water gently, then pot the young plants on as they fill the pot. The seedlings push through and grow on slowly. With the sun, the warmth and the sharp-draining ground, the young rosettes will rise over the years.

the sago palm is native to Japan's southern most islands. This is a subtropical area of high rainfall and warm temperatures. As a result, this beautiful plant is right at home in Florida and throughout the Gulf Coast This is a wonderful plant for both indoor and outdoor use. It looks great in the shrub border or as an accent on an expanse of lawn or near the patio.

Sago is an excellent container plant for use outdoors and in the home. It has been a popular house plant in the west for over a century and in Japan for even longer. In Japan the sago is also used as a bonsai subject. Dwarfs of great value are produced by withholding moisture and packing the plant in sand. These often have very thin trunks or interesting deformities and are sometimes sold under the name Cycas nana.

Plant in sandy, fast draining soil, preferably with some organic matter. Also recommended is a light mulch of bark or leaf mold. Plants appreciate light feedings of balanced, slow release fertilizer granules or diluted liquid fertilizers. Strong fertilizers, fresh manure and the like are best avoided as they can damage the sago's coralloid roots (specialized structures that host blue-green algae that fix nitrogen from the air and make it available to the plant