Cycas circinalis - Sago-palm
 

Vernacular Name:

Hindi               - Jangli madan must ka phul

Kannada          - Mund isalu, Goddu eechalu

Malayalam       - Eentha pana

Marathi           - Malabari supari

Sanskrit           - Hintalah

Tamil              - Madana kama raja, Salaparai, Eentha panai

Telugu             - Rana guvva, Per ita, Madana kamakshi

 

Threat Status:

Critically endangered (A1c, d) – KA & TN

Vulnerable (A1c) – KL

 

Habit: Tree

 

Habitat: Deciduous to semi-evergreen forests, mostly in tall grasslands and woodland savannahs

 

Altitude: Up to 1000 m

 

Distribution:

Global: East tropical Africa, Madagascar, Peninsular India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. National: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Regional: Common in Western and Eastern Ghats in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

 

Description:

A slow-growing palm-like evergreen tree, reaching 5-12 m tall. Roots thick, dark brown, coral-like, arranged as a bed. Trunk straight, cylindrical, un-branched, brown, with persistent leaf scars. Leaves 1-3 m long, pinnately arranged; leaflets opposite, 60-100 pairs, linear, 20-30cm long, about 1 cm wide, single nerved, apex acuminate, margin entire, shiny, hairless; leaf stalk 40-60 cm long, hairless, stout, with few short stout slightly curved spines at base. Male and female flowers found in separate plants in the form of cones. Male cones consist of numerous compactly arranged fleshy leaf-like structures called as ‘microsporophylls’, which produce thousands of powdery male spores. ‘Megasporophylls’ are specialized fleshy leaf-like structures, bearing the seeds, which are 2-4 in each megasporophyll, egg-shaped, hard, about 5x3 cm, hairless, smooth, brownish yellow.

 

Phenology: Flowering & fruiting: November to February

 

Medicinal Uses:

Seeds are used as aphrodisiac as well as to improve the sperm production. Bark and seeds are used as a poultice for sores and swellings. Tender leaves relieve flatulence and vomiting. Powdered endosperm is used to relieve burning sensation and general debility.

Trade information:

Local and regional. The pith is sold in virudhunagar market (Tamil Nadu) under the name Pei eechchai.

 

Mode of propagation: By seeds and suckers

 

Special characters:

Readily recognized byits similarity to the date palm tree (Phoenix spp.). Male cones seaed at the apex of the tree look like a pineapple. During spore dispersal male cones emit an un-pleasant odour, choking the breath and causing allergy.