These two cycads from the MSU Botany Greenhouse demonstrate the palm-like nature of cycad foliage. If the plants are in reproductive condition, there is no possibility of confusing them with palms. Palms are flowering plants that bear small, inconspicuous, wind-pollinated flowers.
Cycads are gymnosperms a bear large, conspicuous cones.
In this case, the plant bears an immature ovulate cone. The ovulate cones are typically very large and even the pollen cones are larger and more persistent than are the equivalent male cones of conifers. Although significant elements of Mesozoic vegetation, cycads today are represented by only 10 genera, confined to the semi-arid tropics and subtropics. Mexico presently has the highest diversity of living cycads. All extant cycads grow very slowly and the cones can take several years to mature.