cycas debaoensis

[Josue Diaz]

Looking for C. debaoensis seed or plants, for mailing to CA. 

 

Thank you,

Josue

[Scott W]

That's a hard one to come by, as many being sold as Debaoensis are not true Debaoensis but in fact are Multifrondis or the "hybrid swarm Multifrondis" (which are plants grown from seed that came in a decade ago or so labelled as Debaoensis).

Sadly you'll pay a higher price for it and then realize it's not true to form (which is what happened to me). 

If you do find a seller I recommend getting pictures of the plant, especially up close pics of the fronds, as that will be a dead giveaway as to whether it's true Debaoensis or not.

[Scott W]

Lots of discussion in the Cycads group on Facebook regarding this over the years.

Here's a post from Sim Lav from a few years, who is an expert in cycads, regarding this picture and which is which:

So here’s the answer: these leaflets are all from the same batch of seeds that were harvested in China maybe 8-10 years ago, it’s very likely that they are all from the same population and they are Cycas multifrondis. 

All these seeds were introduced as Cycas debaoensis but are actually a wild hybrid with Cycas segmentifida (I was told).

This is interesting for several reasons:

1: this is probably a fairly recent hybrid swarm and all the plants are crossing back and forth, which explains the huge variability 

2: since pure parent plants of the cross are probably still present in the area, some of the plants could be 80-90% debaoensis (and conversely with segmentifida)

3: it shows why you absolutely CANNOT use only 1/2 plants in order to describe a species as there is a risk of describing atypical plants that are not representative of the species, or, in that case, hybrids.

4: It could explain why the hybrid revoluta x debaoensis that have been sold in the recent years do not always show dichotomously divided leaflets. Because they actually result of the cross between 2 species with simple leaflets and one with divided ones, so the trait can easily be lost.

The ones that look like multipinnata only have the leaflets that do so, the leaf shape is different.

It’s easy to understand why debaoensis has been so confusing with all these different plants in cultivation...

But their diversity is interesting, many of these plants are really good looking.

Thanks for answering and sorry for fooling you!

[Scott W]

And here's pics of what was sold to me as Debaoensis, which is not...

And here's pics of what is supposed to be Debaoensis crossed with tropophylla x micholitzii.  These were all grown from seed and of the six plants in my collection all show different leaf patterns....and more multifrondis than Debaoensis.

 

[Scott W]

And here's Sim Lav holding a frond of a true Debaoensis...

And a link to FB post of what is supposed to be the true Debaoensis with more pics...

Cycas Debaoensis

[GeneAZ]

Phil Bergman at Jungle Music has these occasionally.  He's in Encinitas and he ships.