CYCAS PECTINATA

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Context

• Cycas pectinate Plant, an evergreen, palm-like plant with a Jurassic link is under stress in Bhutan.

About the plant

• Cycas pectinata, listed as vulnerable in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List, is the only cycad species found in Bhutan.
• Cycas pectinata belongs to the family Cycadaceae with 118 accepted species.
• In Trashi Yangtse, the location at Ramjar on the eastern bank of the Dangme Chhu (river) is called Bawoongshing-pek, meaning the hill of  Cycas pectinata.

History

• Scottish surgeon and botanist Francis Buchanan-Hamilton first described  Cycas pectinatain 1824 from what is believed to be a part of modern-day Assam. 

Significance

• Cycas in general are culturally and economically significant for native populations.
• Some locals in northeast India use the plant for religious ceremonies.
• Locals in some places (of Bhutan) use its seeds as a supplement to their diet and young leaves are eaten as a substitute for vegetables. 

Threats

• Overcollection as an ornamental plant, habitat destruction, and low seed production are threatening the Cycas pectinate.
• Low seed production and predators such as wild boars could also be checking the expansion of the plant’s population. 

About Cycads

• Cycads are one of the most ancient gymnosperms, possibly originating in the late Carboniferous period 300-325 million years ago and reaching the greatest diversity during the Jurassic-Cretaceous period when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
• Gymnosperms have open-to-air unfertilised seeds to be directly fertilised by pollination. 
• The genetic information contained in cycads makes them valuable for scientific research and conservation.
• Cycads are bridges in major evolutionary transitions in plants and remain indispensable for understanding the origin and subsequent evolution of seed plants. 

https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/plant-with-jurassic-link-under-stress-in-bhutan/article66743362.ece