Seed plant

Description:

Cycads are seed plants with a very long fossil history that were formerly more abundant and more diverse than they are today.

Habitat:

Edge of forest at the tiger preserve at Periyar, within a mountainous area of the Cardamom Hills

Notes:

They typically have a stout and woody trunk with a crown of large, hard and stiff, evergreen leaves. They usually have pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, therefore the individual plants of a species are either male or female. They typically grow very slowly and live very long, with some specimens known to be as much as 1,000 years old. Because of their superficial resemblance, they are sometimes mistaken for palms or ferns, but they are not closely related to either group.