Friday, January 15, 2010

Is this a cycad?

 
 
 
Does anybody recognize this plant? I bought several small seedlings about two years ago from a retail outlet located in the shopping mall of 1 Utama and planted them in the Secret Garden on the roof. The plants grew and produced bulbous stems topped with closely clustered pinnate leaves. They look like cycads but I have not been able to identify them. The species has meanwhile disappeared from the market. This seems rather typical of the Malaysia horticultural market--somebody brings in one batch of plants (in this case probably as seeds), sells the lot, and moves on to something else. Some introductions persist while others fade out. This one may persist.
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15 comments:

Autumn Belle said...

Dr. Ng, How I wish I can help you. I am really hopeless on this. I haven't even seen this plant before. You are right. Many nurseries here do not give scientific names to plants. We are lucky they tell us the common name. Sometimes the even the common names given are wrong.

I have added your link to my blog. Hopefully some garden bloggers can identify this plant. Good Luck!

Anonymous said...

nice read. I would love to follow you on twitter. By the way, did you learn that some chinese hacker had busted twitter yesterday again.

Anonymous said...

very useful article. I would love to follow you on twitter. By the way, did you guys know that some chinese hacker had busted twitter yesterday again.

Dr Francis Ng said...

Sorry, I am ignorant about twitter. Perhaps I should skip twitter. The next big thing, at the current rate of innovation, should be coming along quite soon.

Andrea said...

How i wish we can help you Dr Ng, but you are our mentor and authority on plants, so sorry. But it looks cycad to me though. I have a big cycas plant at home which gives a lot of fruits, much bigger than Cycas revoluta, and the first time i experimented planting seeds took several months to emerge. Now, i just throw the seeds on the sides and they germinate like crazy. These are the big cycads being planted in big ladscapes as accent plants. It also produce branches. We use some leaves also for flower arrangements.

Anonymous said...

Looks like Zamia vasquezii (hort. syn.: Z. fischeri). H.E.Luther

Floridagirl said...

Definitely looks like a cycad to me. Maybe Bowenia serrulata.

Digital Flower Pictures said...

I am not sure but do know there are several features that are unique to cycads. You will have to wait and see if it meets the criteria. It is a fascinating group of plants.

Dr Francis Ng said...

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. After checking out Zamia and Bowenia, I think our plant is most likely Zamia vasquezii, of Mexico. It seems to match the picture and description of Zamia vasquezii in the website below. http://www.hartmanprehistoricgarden.com/sa-zamia_vas.html

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...
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James David said...

Hi Dr. Ng,
Just drop by and found your very interesting blog. Autumn Belle often quote you in her blog concerning the One Utama Roof Garden.

Im amazed to note your wide vast experience and knowledge on plants.
Would really appreciate if you would able to visit me in my blog and give a comment or two and share you point of you concerning my gardening.

Thank you very much.

Autumn Belle said...

Dr. Ng, I drop by to wish you and your family a Very Happy New Year and Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Dr Francis Ng said...

Gong Xi Fa Cai to Autume Belle and others who celebrate Chinese New Year.

James Missier, thanks for your comments. I will visit your blog.

Anonymous said...

quite interesting article. I would love to follow you on twitter.