CYCAS

a genus of 10 or more species of palmlike tropical and subtropical ornamental cycads (family Cycadaceae), among them trees 12 m (40 feet) or more in height. Their leaves are dark green and circinate (uncoiling as fern leaves do), differing from those of other members of the family in having a midrib but no lateral veins. The seeds are borne along the margins of modified leaves, which are arranged in a whorl at the top of the trunk, rather than in compact cones. The leaves of C. revoluta, sometimes called the sago palm, are widely used as ceremonial palms and in floriculture ; the pithy stems of this and other species are a source of sago, a food starch. Several species, among them the Australian nut palm (C. media) and C. circinalis, a fern palm of the Malaysian area, bear edible seeds.