''Cycas aculeata'' is a species of

cycad Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk (botany), trunk with a crown (botany), crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants o ...

in the genus ''

Cycas ''Cycas'' is a genus of plants belonging to a very ancient lineage, the Cycadophyta, which are not closely related to palms, ferns, trees or any other modern group of plants. They are evergreen perennials which achieved their maximum diversity in ...

'', native to

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, where it is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to a single site on the south slopes of the Hai Van Pass. It has a short subterranean stem 15–18 cm diameter, which bears 6-23

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

. The leaves are 1.8-2.5 m long, and pinnate, with 100-150 leaflets and several basal spines; they are glossy dark green, but covered in orange pubescence at first which soon wears off. The leaflets are 35–52 cm long and 13–19 mm wide, and the basal spines . The name derives from the Latin aculeatus, which translates as "prickly", indeed has short prominent spikes along the petiole (the leaf stalk). The stems are usually to slightly emergent, with trunk 6 inches in diameter. Emergent leaves are bright orange, and turn dark green with age, somewhat similar to

Zamia integrifolia ''Zamia integrifolia'', also known as coontie palm is a small, tough, woody cycad native to the southeastern United States (in Florida and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia), the Bahamas, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands. Description ''Zamia integrifo ...

by coincidence. The male

cones A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines conn ...

are solitary, 15–20 cm long and 4–6 cm diameter; the female cones are undescribed.

Habitat

This cycad is one of a number of related subterranean species native to SE Asia. It is most closely related to '' Cycas balansae'', little is known about this cycad. It grows in deep

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...

over

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

in the inner forests of Vietnam. During the

Vietnam war The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, herbicide spraying and mass bombings may have severely upset the plant's native habitat and may have killed many of the plants.

References

Cycad Pages: ''Cycas aculeata''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2054760

aculeata Aculeata is a subclade of Hymenoptera containing ants, bees, and stinging wasps. The name is a reference to the defining feature of the group, which is the modification of the ovipositor into a stinger. However, many members of the group cannot ...

Endemic flora of Vietnam