''Cycas circinalis'', also known as the queen sago, is a species of cycad known in the wild only from southern India. ''Cycas circinalis'' is the only gymnosperm species found among native Sri Lankan flora.

Taxonomy

''C. circinallis'' is native to southern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, but the species name was formerly widely used for similar cycads in Southeast Asia, which leads to confusion in modern sources. The specimens described as "''C. circinallis''" in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

are now recognized as '' Cycas rumphii''; while the taxon formerly described as the subspecies ''C. circinallis'' ssp. ''riuminiana'' from the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

is now regarded as a separate species, '' Cycas riuminiana''.

Cultivation

The plant is widely cultivated in Hawaii, both for its appearance in landscape and interiors, and for cut foliage. File:Cycas circinalis - sago palm - desc-top of trunk.jpg, Male cone, new File:Cycas circinalis 002.JPG, Male cone, old File:Cycas circinalis at Kadavoor.jpg, Young shoots File:Starr 080716-9532 Cycas circinalis.jpg, Seed File:ഈന്തിൽകായ.jpg, Collected seeds File:Cycas circinalis112.jpg, Young plant as seen in forest File:Cycas circinalis111.jpg, Leaf

Use as food

The seed is poisonous. The potent poison in the seeds is removed by soaking them in water. Water from the first seed-soaking will kill birds, goats, sheep and hogs. Water from the following soakings is said to be harmless. inimum of 5 Soakings needed to ensure the safety After the final soaking, the seeds are dried and ground into flour. The flour is used to make tortillas, tamales, soup and porridge.

Lytico-bodig disease

The plant was thought to be linked with the degenerative disease lytico-bodig on the island of

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

; however, the cycad native to Guam has since been recognised as a separate species, '' Cycas micronesica'', by K.D. Hill in 1994.

Chemistry

Leaflets of ''C. circinalis'' contain biflavonoids such as (2S, 2′′S)-2,3,2′′,3′′-tetrahydro-4′,4′′′-di-O-methylamentoflavone ( tetrahydroisoginkgetin).Phytochemical Investigation of Cycas circinalis and Cycas revoluta Leaflets: Moderately Active Antibacterial Biflavonoids. Abeer Moawad, Mona Hetta, Jordan K. Zjawiony, Melissa R. Jacob, Mohamed Hifnawy, Jannie P. J. Marais and Daneel Ferreira, Planta Med., 2010, 76(8), pages 796-802,

References

External links

Floridata: ''Cycas circinalis''

EDIS: Queen sago

USDA Plants Profile

University of Hawai'i at Manoa: King and Queen Sago
{{Taxonbar, from=Q161198 circinalis Non-timber forest products Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora of India (region)