''Cycas multipinnata'' (or ''Epicycas multipinnata''), common name Royal Sago, 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 ...

of the Sago Palm Family ( Cycadaceae) in

southwestern China Southwestern China () is a region in the People's Republic of China. It consists of five provincial administrative regions, namely Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Xizang. Geography Southwestern China is a rugged and mountainous region, ...

and

northern Vietnam Northern Vietnam or '' Tonkin'' () is one of three geographical regions in Vietnam. It consists of three geographic sub-regions: the Northwest (Vùng Tây Bắc), the Northeast (Vùng Đông Bắc), and the Red River Delta (Đồng Bằng Sôn ...

. It is one of the tuberous species which some taxonomists segregate as the genus ''Epicycas'', and has the longest leaf stalks ( petioles) of any Gymnosperm; up to . Cultivated plants have had petioles as long as . The total length of the bipinnate frond can be up to . Uniquely, the ultimate pinnules are Y-shaped. This very conspicuous plant somehow escaped notice until 1994. Among Gymnosperms, these fronds are exceeded in weight only by '' Encephalartos laurentianus'', and the blade (

lamina Lamina may refer to: People * Saa Emerson Lamina, Sierra Leonean politician * Tamba Lamina, Sierra Leonean politician and diplomat Science and technology * Planar lamina, a two-dimensional planar closed surface with mass and density, in mathem ...

) of ''C. multipinnata'' is by far the largest.

Distribution

''Cycas multipinnata'' is found in: *Red River gorge in eastern Yunnan *Honghe Nature Cycad Reserve, Yunnan *Xilong Mountain Natural Reserve, Yunnan *western

Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...

, China * Yen Bai Province, northern Vietnam It likely occurs in Honghe, Jianshui, Mengla, and Mile counties of

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

.Whitelock, Loran M. 2002. ''The Cycads''. Portland: Timber Press.

References

multipinnata Taxa named by Chia Jui Chen Taxa named by Si Yuan Yang {{cycad-stub