Cycad cones and flushes

[wimmie]

I wouldn't say that it is flushing, but nevertheless, my princeps is putting out a new leave, in the Dutch wintertime!

[TropicsEnjoyer]

71 pages is absolutely wild. I think this is the biggest thread in the site and these are technically not real palms 😂. Regardless, very beautiful stream of photos that I unfortunately can’t all see.

[sgvcns]

Ceratozamia robusta var santiago tuxtla x C latifolia.

Think it's time to dig and move/sell...

[sgvcns]

Zamia nesophila. I like the plicate leafed cycads

[happypalms]

Encephalitis ferocity flushing 

[happypalms]

20 hours ago, happypalms said:

Encephalitis ferocity flushing 

Ferox 

[Gallop]

Ceratozamia sp redback

[Tracy]

Encephalartos cupidus boy is flushing unreasonably early.  It is clearly confused by the continued clear skies that have come with this Santa Ana conditions we have experienced this winter.  Thanks to my irrigation system, it is oblivious to the months lacking any meaningful rainfall.  Anyone else experiencing unseasonable flushes due to the current weather pattern?

[Merlyn]

@Tracy I had a couple get confused by the early December cold front and then 3 warm weeks.  A Revoluta up front started a tentative 3 or 4 leaf flush and then quit.  A still unidentified big green Encephalartos in the backyard put up a big and successful 10+ leaf flush.  The shiny ones in the center are just starting to go from lime green to deep green:

And a Cycas Multipinnata in the backyard started a frond and quit trying around Christmas when the next cold fronts started rolling through.  It looks like some bizarre alien octopus arm...

As you can see, the weeds completely exploded everywhere in mid-December.  I've been kind of hoping for another mild frost to kill them all off...

[Tracy]

3 minutes ago, Merlyn said:

@Tracy I had a couple get confused by the early December cold front and then 3 warm weeks.  A Revoluta up front started a tentative 3 or 4 leaf flush and then quit.  A still unidentified big green Encephalartos in the backyard put up a big and successful 10+ leaf flush.  The shiny ones in the center are just starting to go from lime green to deep green:

And a Cycas Multipinnata in the backyard started a frond and quit trying around Christmas when the next cold fronts started rolling through.  It looks like some bizarre alien octopus arm...

As you can see, the weeds completely exploded everywhere in mid-December.  I've been kind of hoping for another mild frost to kill them all off...

My Cycas species can flush this time of year as can some of the Central African Encephalartos.   This is extremely unusual though for Encephalartos cupidus or my other related species (Eugene-maraisii complex).  Weather has been very different this winter here.  It has been many years since we had a winter like this.

[sgvcns]

Zamia hamannii starting it's yearly "flush" of a single spike.

My favourite of the plicate zamias

[Tracy]

Encephalartos cerinus flushing in late winter.  Counting the days until Northern Hemisphere spring begins.  It is just 19 days away. 

[sgvcns]

Z hamannii nearly finished it's flush.

[Tracy]

6 hours ago, sgvcns said:

Z hamannii nearly finished it's flush.

I love the ridges on those leaflets as well as their width .

[sgvcns]

Yes I love the plicate leaflets. The only 1 I know with a coloured flush

[Gallop]

[edbrown_III]

wow

[Gallop]

Cycas debaoensis 

[Gallop]

 

 

[Manalto]

Here's the one you may not have heard of: Cycas revoluta.

We had some temperatures in the low teens this winter that knocked back quite a few marginal plants, so it's good to see recovery when it happens.

It's a lovely cycad; it should be more popular.

[Mazat]

17 hours ago, Manalto said:

Here's the one you may not have heard of: Cycas revoluta.

We had some temperatures in the low teens this winter that knocked back quite a few marginal plants, so it's good to see recovery when it happens.

It's a lovely cycad; it should be more popular.

Beautiful 

[Mazat]

1 minute ago, Mazat said:

Beautiful 

our cycas revoluta 

[Merlyn]

@Manalto it's strange how few Revoluta there are around here.  They are so rare that I managed to pick up 7 trunking ones from neighbors who were tired of the scale insects! 

And this is a first for this plant, a cone on a theoretical Cycas Debaoensis.  I say "theoretical" because almost all of the ones in the US are hybrids of some sort.  This one was part of a batch from CBLisa back ~5 years ago, 4 out of 5 so far "look" like the real deal.

[Gallop]

@Merlyn Would love to see the leaves on your C debaoensis. True Cycas debaoensis coning in my garden. 

 

[Manalto]

32 minutes ago, Gallop said:

 True Cycas debaoensis... 

 

Wow. It's GAW-juss!

[Mazat]

this little cycas, it is sprouting new leaves, or rather started to do so during the winter after we found it defoliated on the ground near the greenhouse in October 2024. we only noticed it now because of all the jungle🤔😁

[Merlyn]

@Gallop yours look awesome!  This is the best angle photo I could get for it to show the overall frond shape and plumosity.  The overall shape is fairly triangular, though it varies a bit from frond to frond.  The one in the picture has about a 4' long petiole, with the bottom end of the triangle about 44" wide and tapering down to about 50" or so long.  This one also only produces one frond at a time, as opposed to the clear hybrids that are 3-6 at a time. 

In this view you can see the taper to a point a bit easier:

The bits that make me think it's not pure are the leaflets are narrower than your photos.  But Sim Lav had this from the 2nd official population, and it didn't have the extra-wide ripply leaves either:

I was hoping the next couple of fronds this year would show whether it's real or just another hybrid...maybe after the cone is done!

[Gallop]

[Peter]

This mystery cetatozamia leaf popped out of the ground quite unexpectedly.  In fact, it had been underground for so many years that I had completely forgot there was even a plant there, and so long ago that I have no memory of even planting it.  I'll move to a more prominent position after it hardens off

[Merlyn]

@Peter that's why I keep a spreadsheet and an AutoCAD drawing of the entire yard!  I randomly find Queen, Zamia Furfuracea and Sabal seedlings popping up all over, but every once in a while I find a completely unknown cycad or palm.  It also makes it easier to go back and figure out new flushes, like this Encephalartos three-fer.  On the left is an Aemulans x Lehmannii, to the right a Ferox, and with the red arrow an Umbeluziensis.  As soon as the Umbeluziensis hardens off I'm moving it to a shadier spot:

And this Encephalartos two-fer is a monster Gratus x Laurentianus on the right and a Laurentianus on the left:

Just behind that Laurentianus is an Encephalartos Bandula with a beastly 20 leaf flush:

[TropicsEnjoyer]

Good old normal sago but fresh flushes never get old.

[Billeb]

Encephalartos Princeps finally decided to play ball again. Pushed in the fall of 2023 and nothing in 2024. Guess it likes Spring of 2025. 
 

-dale  

[Gallop]

[Tracy]

On 4/29/2025 at 6:54 AM, Gallop said:

Great color!

[Tracy]

On 4/27/2025 at 7:38 PM, Billeb said:

Encephalartos Princeps finally decided to play ball again. Pushed in the fall of 2023 and nothing in 2024. Guess it likes Spring of 2025. 
 

-dale  

Sometimes Encephalartos princeps can skip a year in flushing in my experience.  This little one I need to dig up and move to a larger space eventually.  Oops, I don't have a larger space available right now unless I remove something else. 

[Scott W]

Cycas panzhihuaensis.  First flush since coning and producing seeds last year 

Cycad panzhihuaensis x multifrondis seedlings showing splits 

Cycas taitungensis 

Cycas revoluta x taitungensis 

Cycas balansae first time coning

Cycas diannanensis cone harvested foe future hybrids

Ceratozamia hildae spineless seedlings 2nd leaf set

Cycas petrae

 

[Gallop]

Ceratozamia latifolia 

Dioon rio verde

Dioon palma sola

Dioon edule x argenteum &nbsp

Ceratozamia sp. 

 

Dioon edule sp.

Cycas taitungensis 

Cycas panzhihuaensis  x multifrondis

Ceratozamia aurantiaca male cone

Ceratozamia chamberlainii

Pollinating Cycas debaoensis 

Ceratozaiam sp.

[Tracy]

Since I saw 10 simultaneous pups around the base of this Cycas thouarsii x cupida about to flush, as well as the main caudex, I decided it was time for a haircut.  The pups will have maximum space for their flushes to emerge now.

[Tracy]

On 4/27/2025 at 7:38 PM, Billeb said:

Encephalartos Princeps finally decided to play ball again. Pushed in the fall of 2023 and nothing in 2024. Guess it likes Spring of 2025. 
 

-dale  

My largest Encephalartos princeps is flushing again this year too.  I thought it might be getting close to coning size, but clearly not yet.  That is ok, patience.  I don't want it to cone and then after exerting all that energy, skip a year on flushing.

[Billeb]

21 minutes ago, Tracy said:

My largest Encephalartos princeps is flushing again this year too.  I thought it might be getting close to coning size, but clearly not yet.  That is ok, patience.  I don't want it to cone and then after exerting all that energy, skip a year on flushing.

It’s hard to beat pure Princeps. Yours looks great @Tracy. Whats shocking to me is mine has a relatively small caudex (4-5”) and it’s flushing an entire set. It’s pushing 9 fronds so it seems happy. 
 

-dale