CYCAD CRAZY!!!!

[OverGrown]

This neighborhood is approximately 20yrs old. During that time.. Sago's palms (cycas revoluta) was considered a luxury landscape plant that represented wealth and prosperity. What used to go for $300, I've seen go for $60 these days. I know of some neighbors who bought older sagos for $700+ at the time. Our hot & dry inland climate proves to be excellent conditions for growing cycads. Combine that with the fact that they are low maintenance and evergreen, made it the ultimate plant which was why they are so commonly seen in the neighborhood. BUT I bet you haven't seen them like this before....

Presentation.

Edited April 20, 2010 by OverGrown

[OverGrown]

A little more...

[OverGrown]

BAM a really old multi

[OverGrown]

This guy really liked them. Has 13 large ones in his front yard...

[OverGrown]

Crazy multihead

Notice the growth point on this...

Close up of the mohawk head...

[OverGrown]

And finally the CRAZIEST ONE I HAVE EVER SEEN!!! THAT IS RARE!!!!!!!

[BS Man about Palms]

[Mr Cycad]

And finally the CRAZIEST ONE I HAVE EVER SEEN!!! THAT IS RARE!!!!!!!

Holy moley!!!

[freakypalmguy]

Nice shots and great cycads. A well grown revoluta is hard to beat in the cycad world. Unfortunately a victim of commonitis.

Edited April 20, 2010 by freakypalmguy

[DoomsDave]

Whoa!

OG, those look SO familiar . . . .

Hmm. Off Albatross Road?

No?

Hmm. Off Turnbull Canyon . . . ?

[OverGrown]

Whoa!

OG, those look SO familiar . . . .

Hmm. Off Albatross Road?

No?

Hmm. Off Turnbull Canyon . . . ?

You got it first time around!

[Xenon]

Amazing!

-Jonathan

[OverGrown]

Does anyone know what causes the phenomenon w/ the last one? how does it grown normally and then decide to morph into an unusual growing point?

[Gbarce]

I think the term for that is a "crested" cycad. I don't know what causes it but I think it is available in some specialty nurseries in Thailand. A few vendors here in Manila have imported one or two ( as well as variegated cycas revoluta) and offered them for sale but they are very expensive.

I assume that its offsets are also "crested"

[Kris]

Simply Beautiful !

The House,the cycads,the layout and nevertheless your photography...

Thanks & Love,

kris

[DippyD]

These are common but very nice specimens. also the odd looking one. "crested" whoever said that was right a pretty rare. what causes it, i do not know but i have seen it start on very tiny plants and not sure if they actually morph into that or are grown like that forever. Anyways very cool pics.

[JD in the OC]

WOW. That last one is a monstrosity!!!

How about:

Cycas revoluta variegated

Cycas revoluta 'aurea' (No, this is not a nutrient deficiency)

[virtualpalm]

The "crested" (also known as "cristate") phenomenon in cycads arises as a somatic mutation that causes the leaves (and cones) to emerge in a linear rather than circular fashion. It can happen in a single head of a multi-headed plant (which appears to be the case in the last photo above), suggesting that normal-looking offsets will remain normal and crested-looking offsets will remain crested. I have never seen a crested offset, though, so if someone has a photo of that, I would like to see it.

Below is a photo of a crested male plant here in Miami. If you look closely, the single cone on the far right is a normal one on a normal apex. The apex to the left is crested, and that single apex is bearing more than 15 cones, some of which are fused together.

Here is another photo from the opposite angle--which shows the normal cone and apex (now on the left) much more clearly:

Jody

[virtualpalm]

For anyone interested in Cycas revoluta mutations, the link below shows a plant with both "cristate" and "aurea" mutations.

http://www.plantapalm.com/vce/mutants3.htm

Jody

[Kathryn]

Amazing cycads!

These manicured shrubs are a bit freaky.

[Gbarce]

Here's my variegated Cycas Revoluta seedling.

This was imported from Thailand along with some Crested seedlings as well.

Both freaks were expensive so I could only get one-- I always like the variegated stuff. I'm kind of on the fence about the beauty of the Crested

[FRITO]

Overgrown, Your photos are missing, do you have photos of the crested cycas revoluta? I found one locally and would like to compare it to the monster you found!

Jody, the photos you posted are technically semi-crested correct, since the cones are not all fused together? The one I found and am trying to get hold of is a offset of a mature male clump, hopefully I can remove it safely. Once a cycaf goes crested will it remain crested after being removed from the clump?

Nice rare cycads everyone!

Edited June 15, 2010 by FRITO

[pinktree1]

I bought this Cycas Revoluta with about 15 fronds in circle at each head.

Here she started 46 new fronds on one of the heads in a line instead of a circle, 35 survived.

After a while another 111 fronds started at the second head and continued to the first head, all survived.

What caused this?  Crested without male cones?

Edited December 11, 2022 by pinktree1

[Merlyn]

@pinktree1that's a really interesting mutation!  The first photo looks like a sort of standard 2-header.  It's been hypothesized that the head splitting is due to some damage in the top, either from damage to the male cone or possibly cold damage.  I saw a bunch of Revoluta that were severely damaged in the 2020 "Snowpocalypse" in Texas.  The Zilker Botanical Garden in Austin saw temperatures in the low single digits Fahrenheit (-15C or so).  Quite a few cycas were killed outright, but a bunch of others were defoliated and essentially just sat there for a year.  I visited a few weeks ago and several clearly had died at the original growing point but had sprouted several new heads near the top.  These will end up being multi-headed plants similar to your first photo:

The original center (red circle) died and rotted, but it's got 5 new growing points around the perimeter of the original crown.  In your case the cresting *might* be it trying to split into 3 or 4 growing points?  It may take a couple of years to know what the plant is really trying to do.

[pinktree1]