Cycas circinalis, also known as the queen sago, is a species of cycad known in the wild only from southern India. Cycas circinalis is the only gymnosperm species found among native Sri Lankan flora.
Origin and Habitat: Cycas circinalis, also known as the queen sago, is a species of cycad known in the wild only from southern India (Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and may also occur south of Maharashtra). The plant is widely cultivated in Hawaii and elsewhere in the tropics, both for its appearance in landscape and interiors, and for cut foliage.
Altitude range: From sea level to about 1000 in elevation.
Habitat and Ecology: Cycas circinalis appears to be an adaptable species found in different habitats comprising fairly dense, seasonally dry deciduous forest , shrub forest and savanna woodland in rocky hill outcrops, and in semi evergreen forests, at sea level too. Plants are also found in riparian zones in rocky areas (dried stream beds). Populations may also occur in taller moist deciduous forests. Many trees in this habitat lose their leaves in the dry season, and Cycas circinalis is also facultatively deciduous in extremely dry times. The surface of the Queen Sago Cycas circinalis trunk wood has much texture and grooves from the leaf bases, a feature that allows the trunk to be planted with orchids. Cycad pollination was long thought to be a chance event, effected only by the wind. This was especially troublesome for understanding the success of understory cycads in tropical forests, where there is little wind, and where pollen studies have shown that there is almost no cycad pollen in the air.
