What is Cycad?
{{Taxobox | name = Cycadophyta | image = Cycas circinalis.jpg | image_width = 250px | image_caption = ''[[Cycas circinalis]]'' with old and new male cones. | regnum = [[Plant]]ae | divisio = '''Cycadophyta''' | classis = '''Cycadopsida''' | ordo = '''Cycadales''' | ordo_authority = [[Barthélemy Charles Joseph du Mortier|Dumortier]] | subdivision_ranks = Families | subdivision = [[Cycadaceae]] Cycas family<br /> [[Stangeriaceae]] Stangeria family<br /> [[Zamiaceae]] Zamia family }} [[File:Cycad cone.jpg|220px|thumb|Leaves and cone of ''[[Encephalartos sclavoi]]'']] [[File:Involute vernation.jpg|220px|thumb|Pinnate divided leaves of a cycad, with new growth in the centre in the form of a bud]] [[File:Cycads, Limpopo, South Africa (2417726335).jpg|220px|thumb|Cycads in South Africa]] '''Cycads''' are [[seed plant]]s whose [[fossil]]s are first found in the early [[Permian]] period.<ref>Willis K.J & McElwain J.C. 2002. ''The evolution of plants''. Chapter 5 Major emergence of the seed plants, and specifically p133/4.</ref> They were very common in the [[Mesozoic]] [[era]], the age of the [[dinosaur]]s, and are still living, but are now much less common. Only nine [[genus|genera]] (about 100 species) of cycads are [[extant]] nowadays. In the Lower Jurassic they were part of the forests which became the Jurassic [[coal measure]]s in part of the world. The fronds could be reached and eaten by some of the typical herbivores of the day. Cycads are thought to have evolved from order [[Pteridospermatophyta|Pteridospermae]] (seed ferns) of angiosperms, now totally [[extinct]]. They are different from most plants because they have large crowns of compound [[Leaf|leaves]] and a stout [[trunk (botany)|trunk]]. They are [[evergreen]], [[dioecious]] plants having large pinnately compound leaves.<ref>Pinnate: feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis.</ref> They are frequently confused with and mistaken for [[Arecaceae|palms]] or [[fern]]s, but are only distantly related to both, and i