Cycads   Cycas table1

Comparison of morphological characters for
Cycas cairnsiana , C. desolata and C. platyphylla

Character	C. cairnsiana	C. desolata	C. platyphylla
frond colour	glaucous light-blue	glaucous blue	glaucous blue becoming grey-green
cataphylls	lanceolate	linear-lanceolate	lanceolate
indumentum on cataphylls	base only	base only	all over
short teeth at base of frond petiole present (+) or absent (-)	+	-	+
pinnae number in frond	180-280	90-136	120-260
pinnae +- straight (+) or antrorse (-)	-	+	-
pinnae margins	recurved	recurved	+ flat
median pinnae angle (degrees) to rhachis	20 - 60	30 - 50	45 - 60
median pinnae length x width (mm)	80-180 x 2.0-3.0	180-210 x 3.8-5.0	90-170 x 4.0-6.0
median pinnae base width (mm) (% of maximum width)	2.0-3.0 (80-100)	2.8-4 (70-80)	3.0-4.0 (65-85)
microsporophyll sterile zone length (mm)	12-15	8-12	7-10
microsporophyll apical spine length (mm)	6-9	3-4	6-9
megasporophyll lamina length x width (mm)	40-70 x 15 - 25	28-32 x 20-25	50-80 x 16-37
teeth development on megasporophyll lamina	poor	poor	strong
megasporophyll lamina spine length (mm)	15-20	5-15	20-25
seed dimensions length x width (mm)	36-42 x 30-37	35-39 x 32-35	30-40 x 27-38

Table 1.

(reproduced without change from Forster (1995)).

Reproduced from PALMS & CYCADS, No. 54 Jan-Mar 1997

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