### plant | tracheophyte | spermatophyte | gymnosperm:

Cycad
* All Cycads have special roots that grow upright and branch.
* All cycads are dioecious, that is to say, separate male and female plants exist
  - which means they are either male or female, and never both
  - tropical or subtropical and each genus has a restricted geographical range
* Many cycads contain carcinogens or neurotoxins or both
  - face imminent extinction
  - have sharp spines on their leathery leaves for protection
* Most cycads adapt to drought
  - develop trunks
* Most cycads die within few weeks
  - grow in places
* Most cycads have length
  - wide, short trunks and frond-like leaves
* Most cycads look like palm trees
* Most cycads produce abundant pollen
  - require rainfall
* Some cycads are trees
  - worth a lot of money
  - attain height
* Some cycads exhibit continuous growth
* Some cycads grow in gorges
  - habitats
  - mud
  - pure sand
  - similar habitats
* Some cycads grow in thick mud
  - wet mud
* Some cycads have adequate fertilizer
  - sharp teeth
  - live for years
* Some cycads prefer partial shades
* Some cycads produce leaves
* are a group of plants that are very primitive in their origins
  - trees that have very large cones
  - able to accumulate resources from a much larger area than cyanobacterial colonies
  - among the oldest seed plants and even pre-date the dinosaurs
  - an old lineage
  - arranged into numerous families and genera
  - basic woody plants with roots, a stem, leaves, and reproductive cones
  - basically caudiciform succulents
  - considered as status symbols all over the world
* are dioecious , with separate male and female individuals
  - and produce cones or sporangia borne on open sporophylls
* are dioecious, having both males and females
  - distributed throughout the world but are concentrated in equatorial regions
  - extinct according to one biology dictionary
  - found across much of the subtropical and tropical parts of the world
* are gymnosperms a bear large, conspicuous cones
  - that produce seeds most often in cones
  - heavy feeders, and respond well to a good nutrient supply
  - important for landscaping, and add nitrogen to the soil for other plants
  - insect pollinated, unlike other gymnosperms, which generally are wind-pollinated
  - large palm tree lookalikes with a large cone in the center
  - long living and slow growing
  - more expensive than other landscape plants because they are relatively slow growers
  - native to tropical and subtropical regions of the world
  - neither dicot or monocot
  - of cultural and religious significance to many different peoples around the world
  - palm-like trees that live in warm climates
  - plants which are often confused with ferns or palms, but are closely related to neither
* are rare and female mature cycads produce seeds are sought after by everyone
  - for a number of reasons
  - seed plants characterized by a large crown of compound leaves and a stout trunk
  - source of food for many animals
  - succulents basically and many can be grown similarly to how one grows most succulents
* are the dominant plants and conifers also common
  - most ancient plants on earth existing today
  - tropical plants that look a little like palm trees
  - true gymnosperms, plants bearing seeds without having true flowers
  - unique because they are coned, seed bearing plants
  - universally dioecious
  - woody plants which produce seeds
  - woody, long-lived, unisexual plants
* are, in general, toxic, inedible plants.
* bear naked seeds on sporophylls, leaves specialized for reproduction.
* can be male or female plants, i.e., cycads are dioecious by nature
  - reproduce via asexual or sexual reproduction
  - take several places or be used in several ways in a landscape
* certainly have a distinctive appearance which is related to their primitiveness or antiquity.
* display a number of important biotic interactions.
* do best in areas with a moderate climate
  - make interesting garden or lawn specimens
  - well in terra cotta pots with a cactus mix or potting soil
* feed the poor and wow the rich.
* fix atmospheric nitrogen, important in maintaining health and fertility of soils.
* grow extraordinarily slowly
  - fern or palmlike leaves
  - in a few warm, moist sections of Africa, Asia, and Central America
* grow in a number of different habitats
  - tropical and subtropical climates
  - more like succulents than they do like palms
* have a bare, central trunk that is topped by a crown of long leaves
  - cylindrical, usually unbranched, trunk of spongy wood
  - long history in gardens in several parts of Asia
  - considerable economic importance in horticulture
  - cylindrical woody stem without branches
  - epidermal cells with straight margins, thin cuticle, and irregularly oriented stomata
  - male and female cones borne on different individual plants
  - one of two growth habits
  - tough spiny leaves with a fibrous stem
  - very thick leaves, that look like very tough versions of fern fronds
* look a lot like palm trees, but they are gymnosperms, and palm trees are angiosperms.
* make very large ovules and swimming sperm.
* occupy poor habitats and are almost extinct.
* offer a counterpoint to angiosperm ecology.
  - cones, while ferns produce spores
  - small seeds that are covered with yellow or reddish flesh
  - specific smell which attracts beetles and ensures successful pollination
* provide a variety of materials, including thatch, food, medicines and ornamental plants.
* reproduce sexually by cones
  - when mature by the production of cones
* tend to handle being sprayed with pesticides fairly well
  - have an episodic growth pattern, with each flush of new leaves emerging all at once
* typically die from the bottom up.