Cycas is a genus of cycad, and the only genus in the family Cycadaceae, with all other genera of cycad being within the Zamiaceae family. Cycas circinalis, a species endemic to India, was the first cycad species to be described in western literature, and is the type species of the genus.
As of April 2024, there are 119 accepted species within the genus Cycas, native to Asia, Oceania, and eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean region, with the largest number of species native to Australia, China and Vietnam.
In horticulture, the most widely grown and perhaps best-known Cycas species is Cycas revoluta, which is commercially grown in large numbers for sale as houseplants or to be used in landscaping.
The majority of Cycas species are highly endangered. Many are threatened by the illegal trade of wild collected plants for plant collectors, and through the conversion of land for urban development or agricultural use.
Range
The genus Cycas is native to parts of Asia, eastern Africa and Oceania. Cycas has the widest distribution of any genus of cycad.
In Asia, Cycas (and therefore, the family Cycadaceae) represent the only cycads native to Asia. Within Asia, Cycas species are native from India and Sri Lanka in the west, through China to Japan in the north east and through Southeast Asia (including the Philippines) to Indonesia in the south. Globally, the northernmost species ( Cycas revoluta) is found at 31°N in southern Japan.
As of April 2024, the largest number of currently accepted species of Cycas in Asia are found in Vietnam (27 species), China (23 species), India (14 species), Thailand (12 species), Philippines (12 species) and Indonesia (10 species). The distribution of Cycas species in Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia is not well known, but as of April 2024, no accepted cycad species is known to be endemic to any of these three countries.
In Africa, cycads belonging to all two cycad families are found making it a major center of diversity for...
