When dinosaurs roamed, cycads grew

During the Mesozoic age, and before the extinction of flowering plants, ferns, horsetails, aquatics, and cycads flourished, dating back 250 million years.

If we turn our botanical time clock back millions of years ago, we would see a completely different flora and fauna on this planet we call home.

The earth was dotted with ancient cycads covering most of the continents, and they were a food source for the giant herbivorous dinosaurs such as stegosaurus in the Jurassic period. Some species became extinct and remain as petrified fossils with dinosaur bones from that period known as the Age of Cycads.

Fossil finds indicate that cycads have changed very little and, if you transport your vision back millions of years, these plants are almost the same in shape, size, and colors. It's like a time machine knowing what we grow in our landscapes today are some of the plants from yesteryear that look fairly similar to when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

Cycads have been considered a collector's plant and horticulturists have traveled the globe in search of these prehistoric cycads; it's all about the plant hunting. But today many plant restrictions exist and it's not that easy to obtain permits and phytosanitary papers to import cycads into this country.

These timeless plants originate from Mexico, South Africa, the Pacific Islands, Japan, the Caribbean. Australia, South America, Central America and even one small species today found in Florida, the zamia pumila.

Cycads have a striking appearance. I think they are a fine living piece of artwork that are exhibited in large cycad collections and at botanical gardens throughout the world.

Today the cycas revoluta or sago cycad (not a palm) is grown by the millions from Florida, Texas and here in California. The sago is from Japan and is one cycad that is planted throughout Southern California's gardens en masse,

Sago palms as they are commonly called are a misnomer as cycads are cone-bearing gymnosperms, closely related to pines and gingko trees and have nothing in common with palms except for similar in appearance.So no more sago palms, say sago cycads.

Today there are only 11 genera and some 300 species remaining and all confined to the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate region of the earth. Some of the more popular ones are dioon, cycas, zamia, macrozamia, ceratozamia, and lepidozamia.

When growing these slow-growing plants, their leaf variations are very distinctive from smooth to stroke, to furry to touch, to spiny barbs on the fronds. The fronds range in color from dark green to blue-greys, and glaucous (dull grayish-green) which is very striking in a cycad collection.

Cycads can adapt to almost any garden setting when staged properly and can tolerate heat, wind, sun, shade and drought conditions, which make them a good candidate for today's xeriscaping.

These relic cycads can be blended into many styles of landscape designs from a tropical setting with complementary plants to desert schemes with boulders and gravel, growing quite well in Palm Springs.

They have many adaptations out in the garden and also make excellent container plants not requiring great root space. I have a huge African encephalartos cycad in a large terra cotta pot and it is happy as peaches and cream.

Cycads enjoy a well-drained soil out in the landscape and do not enjoy wet boggy conditions which can set them up for root-rot.

All cycads are dioecious, which means a plant is either male or female. Male plants produce pollen-bearing cones, and female plants produce seed-bearing cones and are quite distinctive from one to another.

Cones erupt from the center of the leaves and are another attractive feature of the plant. The female cone of encephalartos altensteinii can weigh up to 90 pounds.

Some cycads, after going through their reproductive cycle, can rest for a period and not produce any new leaves for some time. I have one old sago in my collection that has not produced new fronds for over three years and is in its resting period.

I have often stated that plants are like people and we all have our own unique personalities and blooming moments in life. No two of us are exactly alike and that what makes for such diversity in life.

There is a Cycad Society and a global interest in these plants and here in Southern California are some real avid and serious cycad collectors. These collections contain some of the rarest cycads found on earth.

Some folks can collect wine, cars, gold and some stamps. It's all about beauty is in the eye of the beholder for these dramatic looking plants. Some cycads are extinct out in the wilds and only a few are left in private or botanical garden collections.

Here in San Diego County are some nurseries that specialize in featuring this plant family. Two are Rancho Soledad Nursery in Rancho Santa Fe and Botanical Partners in Vista and both have a vast display of cycads and other exotic flora.

Occasionally entire collections are put up for auction and individual sales, and there is a local Palm & Cycad Exchange that handles that.

The Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino near Pasadena have one of the most outstanding cycad collections in the United States. You can also visit the San Diego Botanical Gardens (old Quail Gardens) in Encinitas that also has a very nice assortment of cycads to enjoy

I worked up at Lotusland in Montecito many years ago and the owner, Madame Ganna Walska, also was a connoisseur of these plant jewels and has an old cycad collection on her botanical estate which is now open to the public. It is a horticultural adventure to stroll about these gems in her classic collection from long ago.

Some of these cycads are extinct and not found out in the wild. Some plant enthusiasts have implanted small electronic chips into the trunks in the event that the plants are stolen and can be traced by computer software today.

So if you are into plants that date back millions of years when the dinosaurs roamed, this is like having an ancient plant museum in your garden. You can share this history with friends visiting and show them, look at my cycads, that existed long before man set foot on this planet. Wow, what a conversation that can lead into understanding what a small speck of time we live in today, and you can become a cycad plant time-traveler.

If I have created a dapple of interest and if you would like to further your journey to know more about this unique family of plants, I highly recommend the bible on them "The Cycads" by Loran M. Whitelock.

"A garden landscape can have so many benefits to enjoy and can become a collective work of your vivid and creative imagination."

Roger Boddaert, landscape designer, horticulturist, and certified arborist, can be reached for consultation and unique landscape designs at (760) 728-4297.