Gymnospermous, Dioecious Plant

Most of us just call it a Sago Palm. Not a palm, it is a cycad, sometimes called a living fossil. I thought the new fronds would never grow. They start as a little bump in the center and finally unfurl into large pinnate leaves.


Nurse Gwen gave me this plant, a pup from under her MIL's big Sago. Its first few years, it had very few fronds and the old ones would die during the winter. The stalk got taller and taller as I cut off dead fronds, so I piled more soil around it to hide the legginess. The bottom fronds stopped dying, maybe because it matured. Last year there were more than 30 fronds. I can hardly wait to count these when they finally grow up and out.