Cycas platyphylla
| Cycas platyphylla | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Cycadophyta |
| Class: | Cycadopsida |
| Order: | Cycadales |
| Family: | Cycadaceae |
| Genus: | Cycas |
| Species: | C. platyphylla |
| Binomial name | |
| Cycas platyphylla K.D.Hill | |
Cycas platyphylla is a cycad in the genus Cycas, native to Queensland, Australia.
The stems are erect or decumbent, growing to 1.5 m tall but most often less than a metre. The leaves are pinnate, keeled, 60-100 cm long. New fronds are glaucous blue at first, becoming dark yellow-green, moderately glossy above. Megasporophylls are thickly covered in orange indumentum and the developing seeds have an intensely glaucous sarcotesta.
Habitat
This cycad has a restricted distribution in sparse Eucalyptus savanna on skeletal soils over outcrops of rhyolite or basalt west of the Atherton Tableland in north-east Queensland. The habitat is seasonally dry and subject to recurrent bushfire, and the species is fire tolerant.
Cycas platyphylla: wild plant in open savanna in north Queensland
Cycas platyphylla: plant with fire-blackened, branched caudex
Cycas platyphylla: megasporophylls on a wild plant
Colony of Cycas platyphylla growing on an outcrop of rhyolite in open dry-tropical savanna in northern Queensland