Cycads

=Cycads=

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** Cycads ** are gynosperms are type of seed plant. Cycads have been around for 2.5 million years. They were so plentiful in the Mesozoic era (especially in the Jurrasic period) that the Mesozoic era is commonly called "The Age of Cycads." Fossils have been found on every continent, mostly due to the higher climate of the Mesozoic era. However, now cycadsinhabit the tropical and subtropical region in the world. Some live in temperate climates that have mild winters. They are found today in every continent but Europe and Antarctica. ======

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Since cycads are seed plants, they have adapted to different environments which allows them to live across the world during Prehistoric times. Some of these adaptations include: The ability to have cones helps the plant spread the seeds throughout the environment. Pollination helps the male gametophyte* of the plant get to a plant which has a female gametophyte so that they can produce an embryo. The embryo of the plant is then put into a seed which there it can survive for weeks, months, or years. The large, divided leaves get them mixed up with palm trees and tree-ferns. Cycads are dioecious, meaning male and female gametophytes are produced in different plants. ======

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There are only 250 species and 11 genera that still exist today. Unfortunately they are facing extinction because they live in environments that are themselves facing extinction (like the tropical rainforest) and because they seldom reproduce and they growth is extremely slow. There have been many programs to try to save them like Fairchild Botanical Garden which has many cycads which are endangered. Although it has a wooden trunk, which is made up of storage tissue and very little wood, there are leaf traces that are in the trunk which connect to the leaves and circle the trunk within the storage tissue. Some trunks can be underground or above ground and may have one or two cones depending if they are mature or not. Most scientists thought that wind helped with the pollination of the plant. Recent studies suggest that the plant produces an odor which attracts insects like a beetle or a bee which helps with pollination. Seeds are of many bright colors which then attract animals, like birds. The animal then eats them and then spread the seeds around by their feces. Their roots form near the surface of the soil which then harbors a type of photosynthetic bacteria which makes nitrogen. The plant then has its own fertilizer. Man uses them for decoration or landscape plants, indoor or outdoor. Cycad leaves are used for funeral wreaths or Palm Sunday celebrations because they stay green and look fresh even after a long time they have cut from the plant. Tribal peoples use the starches for bread. However, they must take away the poisons that are in it, sometimes by burying it for two months in the ground before baking it. The reason for this is because there is bacteria in the soil that takes the poison away which makes it edible. ======

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Reproduction in cycads is like all other plants. They go through an alteration of generation, which is the switch between the haploid and diploid stages, in which they have the gametophyte and the sporophyte. The diploid stages is when they produce a sporophyte, grow and produce an ovule or sperm. The haploid stages is when the plant reproduces to creates a new plant. The haploid stage starts with meiosis while the diploid stage starts with fertilization. The cycad life cycle is shown below. ======