The spider cycad

Species name: Cycas maconochiei

Common name: none; sometimes confused with Cycas revoluta

Location: Dominican Republic

This species of cycad, often confused with the sago cycad/sago palm (which you can read all about HERE), is native to the northernmost peninsulas in Australia but are now commonly planted in tropical areas as an ornamental species. It is slightly more hardy and tolerant of storms than the sago cycad, and grows significantly faster. It is also easier to propagate from seed, which means there is less of a stress on the population due to poaching this plant from the wild. Until a few decades ago, this plant was rarely seen outside of Australia.

One of the distinguishing characteristics of this cycad is the "growth rings" it produces on the outside of the trunk. The white cone-like fleshy structure on the inside of the fronds is not actually a cone (as I originally thought) but a layer of fronds that are maturing and will eventually unfurl like fern fronds. This is different than many other species of cycads which only develop one frond at a time. The layer of growth in one year appears like a smooth band around the trunk of the cycad, with the leftover protective sheathes for the developing fronds at the beginning of the growth layer. This layer has been reported up to eight inches thick if growth conditions are ideal! For a cycad, that's an enormous amount of growth (for an angiosperm tree like a maple, it would be no big deal), considering that some species only grow an inch or two a year...

Other than the ornamental value, this plant has very little alternate use to humans. Spiders, however, seem to love this plant. The third picture doesn't have the lens covered in sunscreen and hence the seemingly "fogginess" of the image (I can't say the same for a few other images...). What you can actually see on the inside of the fronds is a massive spider web (probably, actually, a whole community of spider webs). This was on the inside of almost every cycad of this species I looked at, so there might be something more to it than just chance. Someone needs to look at the diversity of spiders in these cycads and whether or not they're native to Australia (and hence were brought over somehow with the cycads themselves), or whether Dominican spiders have started adapting to use this species as an ideal habitat.

The Cardboard (non-palm) Cycad

Species name: Zamia furfuracea

Common name: cardboard cycad

Location: UWO Greenhouse

The cardboard cycad (also called the cardboard palm, but like with the sago palm it's not even remotely related to a true palm) is native to the Veracruz region in Mexico and was once a dominant species across much of the Caribbean region. Now, it is listed on the IUCN Red List as vulnerable, the category listing before becoming endangered. Due to habitat loss and climate change, this species will more than likely go extinct in the wild in the next few generations if an intense conservation effort is not started.

Unlike the last cycad that I featured on my blog, the sago cycad (which you can read all about HERE), the trunk of this species almost always grows underground. It could almost be called a rhizome, except it grows down from the Earth's surface as the rest of the plant grows upwards. If the cycad is grown in a pot like this one is, except for a dense, woody area at the soil surface there is no stem at all. Incredibly unusual, especially for a cycad! Another really neat feature about this plant is the direction of the leaflets in full sun versus in the shade. Like many other shade-tolerant species, the cardboard cycad is very sensitive to full sunlight and can get a sunburn very quickly. This species has evolved a mechanism to prevent sunburn by orienting its leaflets to minimize the surface area that comes in direct contact with sunlight. In full sun, the leaflets point straight up to the ski so that only the edges of the leaf are in full sun. The rest of the leaflet absorbs light as it filters down through the leaves. In the shade, the leaflets are completely horizontal to absorb as much of the filtered light as possible. On the same leaf, you will probably find leaflets oriented horizontally, vertically, and all angles in between!

If you decide to purchase one of these plants from a greenhouse (either as an indoor tropical plant or as an outdoor landscaping plant), please make sure you do your due diligence and find out how that particular plant was grown. The only way of propagating this species is via seeds (the plant cannot tolerating being propagated by cuttings or offshoots of the main stem), and this is incredibly difficult to achieve in a greenhouse. For this reason, many young Zamia plants are hunted in the wild every year to support the ornamental plant industry. This needs to stop if we want to protect this species' wild populations!

Like the sago cycad, the cardboard cycad is incredibly toxic to humans, and consumption of any part of the plant, raw or cooked, can lead to death via kidney and liver failure. As there is no known treatment for cardboard cycad poisoning, if you decide to tempt fate by eating a seed, you will regret your actions in due time. If you have children or pets, this plant is not recommended as a garden or indoor plant under any circumstances (it readily produces seeds in cultivation). Also take care when gardening around this plant or walking around in areas where this plant grows naturally; the spines on the leaf petioles are incredibly sharp and contain a drop of toxin at the tips. Touching the spines won't do anything since it can't be absorbed through the skin, but if it breaks the skin you will get very, very sick (although luckily death is unlikely). This plant is not to be messed with!

Norfolk Island's pseudo-pine

Species name: Araucaria heterophylla

Common name: Norfolk Island Pine

Location: UWO Greenhouse

The Norfolk Island pine, as the common name suggests, is native to the very small island of Norfolk Island, located between Australia and New Zealand. Contrary to what the common name suggests, it is not a pine. Due to the incredibly small native range and the wild hunting of this species, it is listed internationally as vulnerable.

The Norfolk Island pine is an incredibly popular ornamental species due to its almost perfect triangular symmetry. When young and grown in optimal growth conditions (which this greenhouse doesn't have; you can tell by the shape of the tree), the branches are closely bunched and project almost straight out from the main trunk. The branches are subdivided, and these branchlets project outwards towards the tips of the main branch, but fanning outwards at about a 60-degree angle (see the second picture to get a visual of what I'm trying, poorly, to describe). The amazing geometry of this species makes it, by far, one of my favourite tree species. I have never tried to grow it indoors, but I'm guessing that I would be disappointed at the results. The Norfolk Island pine REALLY doesn't like being confined to a pot! It is widely planted outdoors in subtropical and tropical locations: Florida, California, Hawaii, some regions in Brazil and Chile, resort and tourist areas in Honduras, and in lush areas of South Africa. Fortunately, there is a huge market for commercially-grown greenhouse Norfolk Island pines, so they are rarely disturbed in the wild (and they are now a federally-protected species). In fact, the Norfolk Island pine is so valued by the island that it is the main symbol on their flag! And what a lovely flag it is; picture a green Canadian flag but with a Norfolk Island pine tree instead of a maple leaf. They do say that copying is the most sincere form of flattery...right?

Surprisingly enough, this tree has actually been banned as an ornamental species in some coastal communities in Florida and California, and this has nothing to do with the potential for being invasive (which it isn't). Due to frost damage, the main trunk and bottom branches of these trees can become very fragile, and only attached by the innermost woody tissues. As soon as the first big wind storm (or hurricane) hits, the trunk and/or the lower branches go flying off, even when other tree species in the area remain standing. This can cause serious property damage, and can even result in the loss of lives due to flying debris. As a result, the tree has been banned and other native trees have been suggested in its place.

The cones of the Norfolk Island pine, which I have unfortunately never seen (they look spectacular in pictures!), are enormous and look like they should be big enough to snap off the tips of the branches due to their weight. Once the cones are mature (after about 18 months!), they split open and completely disintegrate, releasing the nut-like edible seeds on the inside. If you have one of these trees as an ornamental species and get cones from it, roast some of the seeds and let me know what they taste like! Remember, don't ever collect seeds in the wild; because this is an IUCN Red List species in the "vulnerable" category, it is against international laws to collect seeds from wild individuals. I wouldn't want anyone to get arrested!

The flag of Norfolk Island (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

A Rocky Mountain Juniper

Species name: Juniperus scopulorum

Common name: Rocky Mountain juniper

Location: Ontario

As the name suggests, the Rocky Mountain juniper is native to the Rocky Mountains in North America, from British Columbia all the way south into Mexico (although, there are so few populations left in Texas and Mexico that the range should probably be amended to say it ends in Arizona; this very suggestion has been put forth by the USDA more than once). It thrives in high altitudes where it is common and a relatively short tree (as most alpine species are), but incredibly long lived. In New Mexico, one was felled that was estimated to be 1,500 years old, and a standing dead tree was found to have 1,888 tree rings. There are some individuals left in Arizona that are estimated to be 2,000 years old or more. Incredibly enough, these aren't even the oldest living trees on Earth...

Those of you who live on the west coast and have seen this species in their native habitat on mountain sides will probably be pretty jealous of the height of this individual on campus. It was probably planted when Talbot College was built in about 1970, so the tree would only be 40-50 years old. It's already much taller at 50 years than other individuals would be after 750 years or more! Just goes to show that when you plant species outside of their native habitats, strange morphologies can be achieved.

Like all gymnosperms, the "berries" produced on the branches are not fruits, no matter how they might appear. Gymnosperms, unlike angiosperms, do not have flowers and so don't have all the layers of tissue required to produce a true fruit. Despite this fact, ginkgo (which you can read about HERE), yews (which you can read all about HERE and HERE), and junipers all produce berry-like "fruits" that are just modified seeds. The outermost layer of the seed is modified to store starchy and sugary compounds, often with a lot of waxes and resins to protect the seeds from predation by small animals, and are produced instead of cones. Another interesting fact to note about this species of juniper is that, like ginkgo and holly, the tree is either male or female but never both. The bright blue modified seeds are produced on the female trees, and the male trees have pollen cones that are produced in the spring and release all of their pollen into the air right around spring allergy season. It seems like in the spring and fall, all of the trees conspire against humans to irritate our airways! Sometimes the blue berries are produced regardless of whether the male tree is present or not, but the seeds inside will not be viable. Like holly and ginkgo plants, if you want to ensure the success of the seeds you need to plant both sexes in close proximity.

Many junipers have traditionally held a strong importance in the lives of native North Americans due to their medicinal value. The bark of the Rocky Mountain juniper is boiled to make a tea and consumed to treat coughs and fevers. Since there are so many resins produced by this species (the yellow "sap" that drips down the outside of the tree, especially after the tree has been wounded) have great antimicrobial properties, and are actually the very reason the tree produces them in the first place! I have strong suspicions that any time the bark of a gymnosperm is cooked to extract the resins then consumed, it will have a strong effect against bacteria in the mouth and throat. This doesn't mean you should attempt this, however; some resins produced by various species of gymnosperms are highly toxic and should never be consumed! It's always a fine line in herbal medicine between things that will make you very ill and things that will help your sickness. Mixing your own concoctions just to try things out is strongly discouraged.