Identification

Division--Gymnosperms. (1) Absence of vessels, (2) Ovules

naked, (3) Seeds attached to woody scales, (4) Scales
generally form a cone.
Class-Cycadopsida. (1) Wood manoxylic, (2) Large frond
like leaves (3) Seeds with radial symmetry.
Order-Cycadales. () Plants woody, stem unbranched,
(2) Wood manoxylic, (3) Pressence of mucilage canals,
(4) Leaf trace diploxylic, (5) Dioecious, (6) Ovules
orthotropous, (7) Sperm with band of flagella.
Family-cycadaceae. (1) Leaves with circinate vernation,
(2) Presence of coralloid roots and endophytic blue
green algae, (3) Megasporophylls foliar.
GenusCycas. (1) Two types of leaves, (2) Foliage leaves
pinnately compound, circinately coiled when young,
(3) Presence of transfusion tissue and diploxylic
vascular bundle in leaf, (4) Secondary xylem in stem
manoxlic, (5) Two types of roots, (6) Vascular bundles
arranged in an inverted omega-shaped manner in the
rachis, (7) Male cone large and single.
 Comments
insertion
1. Outline. It is cylindrical. It shows
side)
of pinnae on the adaxial side (upper
epidermis,
2. The rachis is differentiated into
hypodermis, ground tissue and ring of
a
vascular bundles.
3. Epidermis is single layered, thickly
cuticularized and is interrupted by stomata
condition is
throughout its surface. The
known as amphistomatic.
is mainly composed of thick
4. Hypodermis(sclerenchyma).
walled cells Intermixed with
chlorenchymatous cells.
these cells are a few
is 2-3
5. This sclerenchymatous hypodermismany layered
layered toward adaxial side and
toward abaxial side.
the tissue that
6. Ground tissue. The rest of
is called
forms most part of the section
ground tissue. It is parenchymatous.
throughout the
7. Mucilage ducts are scattered
ground tissue. Mucilage ducts are double
layered, the inner layer being composed of
epithelial cells and the outer of tangentially
elongated sclerenchymatous cells.
mucilage duct The vascular bundles are arranged in an
ground tissue
inverted omega (W) shaped arc. Each
vascular bundle is surrounded by a thick
bundle sheath
walled, single-layered bundle sheath. It is
centripetal xylem conjoint, collateral and open.
centrifugal xylem 9. The arrangement of xylem and phloem
differs in vascular bundles at the base,
protoxylem
middle and upper region of the rachis.
cambium
(1) Higher up and for most part of the rachis,
phloem bundles are diploxylic i.e. two types of
hypodermis xylem elements are present - centripetal
chlorenchy and centrifugal xylem. The centrifugal
matous cell xylem occurs in two small groups, present
on both the sides of large triangular and
centrally located centripetal xylem. Tne
sclerenchyma phloem is situated on the abaxial side of
epidermis the rachis.
Cuticle
(ii) At the very base of the rachis, vascular
bundles show only centrifugal xylem
which is endarch. Phloem occupies he
rachis (a part shown by abaxial side of the rachis.
Fig. 11. Cycas. T.s. of details).
in
dotted lines in Fig. 10