The Cycads
Publisher: Timber Press, Incorporated
Published: May 1, 2002
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 532
ISBN-13: 9780881925227
Subjects: Flowers; Shrubs & trees; Trees; Gardening/Plants; Gardening; Gardening / Horticulture; Trees & Forests - General; Ornamental Plants; CYCADACEAE; Gardening / Ornamental Plants; Science / Botany; Shrubs; Cycads
First sentence: The only hard evidence we have for the prehistoric distribution of the cycads is fossils.
Description: "There are few plants, with the possible exception of palms, that can rival cycads for variety of foliage, size, and form. In spite of such deversity, however, cycads represent an ancient lineage whose fossil history extends over 200 million years. Indeed, the Jurassic period is known as the Age of Cycads as well as the Age of Dinosaurs. Cycads have been called the reptiles of the plant world because although they have a long history, they continue to exist, though precariously, in remarkable variety with 11 genera and nearly 300 species." "Loran M. Whitelock has spent decades studying cycads in their natural habitats around the world. These observations, together with those made from his extensive living collection, provide firsthand, reliable information on cycads, with special emphasis on their cultivation in a variety of climates and their propagation. In addition, there are chapters on cycad distribution past and present, classification, morphology and reproduction, conservation and protection, and cycads in human affairs, including food and poisonous properties, art and ornament, medicine, and a surprising assortment of other uses. An appendix lists cycads for particular garden uses by their design characteristics and the horticultural requirements of the plants."--Jacket.