Cycads

            Imagine a plant so old that it watched the dinosaurs rise and fall. A plant that has survived ice ages, shifting continents, and mass extinctions. That plant still lives in the Amazon today — the cycad.

An Ancient Lineage

            Cycads are among the oldest living seed plants, dating back at least 280 million years to the early Permian period (University of Wisconsin Madison, 2024). Long before flowers evolved, cycads had already figured out how to reproduce with pollen and seeds, unlike older plant groups that still rely on spores.

            But this once-diverse lineage has dwindled. Today, only one order remains — Cycadales (Norstog). Globally there are just over 300 species, and in the vast Amazon rainforest, only nine species survive, all belonging to the genus Zamia.

Where They Hide

            Amazonian cycads don’t grow everywhere. They prefer the northern and western Amazon, often in places most other plants struggle — nutrient-poor soils, upland terra firme forests, and scattered white-sand habitats (Whitelock, 2015).

            To survive in these tough conditions, cycads form a remarkable partnership. Their roots develop into coralloid structures that host cyanobacteria, which fix nitrogen from the air and feed the plant (Candeias, 2017). It’s an ancient alliance that has kept them alive where competition is fierce.

Slow and Steady — But Vulnerable

            Cycads grow slowly. This trait helps them survive in shade and poor soils, but it also makes them vulnerable. When forests are cleared, they can’t bounce back quickly.

            Three Amazonian species are listed as critically endangered, and another as endangered. Globally, cycads have become the most endangered group of plants on Earth (Simmons, 2023).

            Why? Habitat destruction, fire, and over-collection (Mankga, 2017). Cycads are prized by plant collectors, and because they grow so slowly, poaching wipes out decades of growth in a single act.

Palm Oil: A Hidden Threat

            Deforestation in the Amazon is often linked to cattle ranching and soy farming, but these industries are concentrated in the southern Amazon. Cycads live farther north and west — and here, the real danger comes from palm oil expansion. Plantations clear the very upland and white-sand forests where cycads grow, erasing not just the plants but also the specialized beetles and thrips that pollinate them.

Cones, Not Flowers

            Unlike flowering plants, cycads reproduce using cones: small male cones that produce pollen, and larger female cones that develop seeds once pollinated. And here’s the twist: even though they have cones, Amazonian cycads are pollinated not by wind but by insects — beetles and thrips. It’s one of the oldest plant–pollinator relationships on Earth.

Why They Matter

            Losing cycads would mean more than losing a few obscure plants. They are living fossils, windows into Earth’s evolutionary past. They are also teachers — showing us how plants can survive in poor soils, form alliances with microbes, and adapt in unexpected ways.

            Protecting cycads means protecting biodiversity hotspots — the white-sand forests, upland habitats, and pollinator networks they depend on. Conservation efforts like CITES protection and protected reserves give us a chance to keep these survivors alive.

References

Cycads (2024) Wisconsin Horticulture Division Extension University of Wisconsin Madison

https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/cycads/#:~:text=The%20oldest%20cycad%20fossils%20date,(along%20with%20the%20dinosaurs).

Norstog, Knut, J. Cycad Brittanica

https://www.britannica.com/plant/cycadhttps://www.britannica.com/plant/cycad

Whitelock, Loran M. Benadom, Duke. (2015) The Cycads Volume 2 Africa and the Americas

Candeias, Matt. (October 11, 2017) The Nitrogen Fixing Abilities of Cycads In Defense of Plants

https://www.indefenseofplants.com/blog/2017/10/2/the-nitrogen-fixing-abilities-of-cycads