The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Cycas rumphii
Also called Bread palm, Ceylon sago palm, False sago-palm, False sago, Queen sago, Spiny-leaved cycas, Ceylon Sago
Cycas rumphii, commonly known as queen sago or the queen sago palm, is a dioecious gymnosperm, a species of cycad in the genus Cycas native to Indonesia, New Guinea and Christmas Island. Although palm-like in appearance, it is not a palm.
The cycad's range is centred on the Maluku Islands, extending northwards to Sulawesi, eastwards to New Guinea, and westwards to Java and southern Borneo. It also occurs on Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean 300 km (190 mi) south of Java, in Australia's Top End (Darwin), and in Western Australia. It is cultivated in Fiji and Vanuatu. It is largely a species of tropical closed forest or woodland on calcareous soils in coastal habitats. It is often found on stabilised dunes formed of coralline sand and limestone.
The trunk of the cycad contains a starchy pith from which sago can be prepared by drying, grinding and washing. The seeds contain a toxic glucoside, pakoein, but can be treated to become edible by pounding, repeated washing, and cooking. The bark, seeds and sap are used in poultices to treat sores. Called Namwele in the Kastom culture of Pentecost, Vanuatu, the plant is sacred, a symbol of peace and status.
Cycas aculeata · Cycas aenigma · Cycas angulata · Cycas annaikalensis · Cycad · Cycas arenicola · Zamia Palm · Cycas arnhemica · Cycas badensis · Cycad · Cycas basaltica · Beddome’s Cycas
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cycas rumphii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
