Cycad Sex Change

[Gardner]

Anybody know if there is any documented confirmation to the rumour a cycad can change its sex in certain circumstances?

[Scott W]

I would think if it were possible Encephalartos woodii would've changed to a female decades ago....

[GeneAZ]

There's plenty if you consult the South African society or the SA members on facebook Cycadfriends page.  They can tell you all about it.

[Gardner]

Thanks for the feedback, I'll have to do a bit more digging.

[TropicsEnjoyer]

I’ve wondered the same thing for a while, like if dioecious palms can sometimes (rarely) swap sex maybe it’s possible for cycads..? The only issue I think is that cycads are far more primitive due to being gymnosperms. I know it’s stating the obvious but as Scott said, one would assume we would have seen at least one instance by now given the number of isolated species especially E. woodii. I think these plants just weren’t meant to have that type of adaptation. They dominated the ancient landscape until they didn’t, and the much more diverse and advanced angiosperms  had more opportunities to adapt. The entirety of cycads are strictly dioecious and there are many other gymnosperms that are similarly limited. 

Now of course with modern genetic engineering maybe it’s possible to get one to be monoecious or at least swap, but at the same time i don’t think there are many scientists concerned with that specific topic right now.

[Merlyn]

Tom Broome told me about the sex change concept maybe 6 or 7 years ago, while I was shopping at his place.  He seemed to think it was really possible.  If I recall correctly, he was planning on trying it at some point.