King Sago Palm, commonly called Japanese Sago Palm is a very slow-growing palm-like evergreen perennial that has been around for over a million years and possibly longer, hence is regarded as one of the most primitive plants existing on earth. Contrary to the palm-like fronds of this plant, it is not a palm tree rather it is a cycad, one of the most popular species. This is obvious from its Latin name; Cycas Revoluta. Cycas revoluta is a species in the Cyca genus and a member of the Cycadaceae family that is found along hillside thickets and native to the Kyusha and Ryukyu Islands in Japan and Southern China.
What is the King Palm Cycas Revoluta?
Cycad King Sago Palm features a rough, brown upright trunk holding up a beautiful rosette of evergreen, arching bipinnate leaves that are 2 to 5 feet long. On each side of the leaves, there are tapered, leathery, deep green to light green leaflets with needle-like tips and revolute edges, hence the name. Because of how slow this plant grows; it is unknown how long it takes to reach its ultimate height but most Sago palms around are about 3 to 10 feet in length and diameter. Furthermore, it is a dioecious plant which means that the male and female plants for reproduction to occur. The male plants can be identified by upright golden-brown inflorescences that are produced while female plants are identified by the tight clusters of red fruit that they produce. Lastly, it is known to be salt, drought, and frost resistant; tolerating temperatures of -6 degrees celsius for short periods, and that makes it a great plant to grow in the UK.
