Product Description
A very elegant, slender cycad from limestone cliffs from southeast Thailand to southern Vietnam. It has a smooth, yellowish trunk and green leaves.
Stem to 6 m tall, 10-14 cm diam. at nar- rowest point, bark pale yellow. Leaves bright green, 0.9-1.6 m long, with 130-200 pinnae, opposing pinnae inserted at 160- 180º on rachis, rachis usually terminated by a spine 2-6 mm long. Petiole 20-45 cm long (20-30% of total leaf), spinescent for 15-70% of length. Basal pinnae 5-7.5 cm long. Median pinnae inserted at 65-80º to rachis, 10-26 cm X 5-8.5 mm, margins flat, narrowed to 1.5-2.5 mm at base (to 25-35% of maximum width), 8-14 mm apart on rachis. Microsporangiate cones yellow to brown, 20-25 cm long, 8-9 cm diam., cone axis 3-4 cm diam. Microspo- rophyll lamina 28-33 X 17-19 mm, fertile zone ca. 25 mm long, sterile zone ca. 6 mm long, level, apical spine prominent, sharply upturned, 5-8 mm long. Megasporophylls 10-20 cm long; lamina 50-100 X 40-70 mm, deeply pectinate, with 20-36 soft lat- eral spines 18-35 X 2-4 mm; apical spine distinct from lateral spines, 20-40 mm long, 3-5 mm wide at base. Seeds 33-37 X 26-33 mm.
Distribution
Populations were examined west of Ban Nam Sae (at ca. 12º45'N, 101º39'E), northeast of Klaeng (Fig. 3), and near Aranyaprathet, near the Cambodian border about 150 km to the northeast. Also common in gardens in that area, and in cultivation outside of Thailand as 'species Araipathet'. It extends through southern Cam- bodia to the far southwest of Vietnam.
