Did you know we are living with some plants that are actually "living fossils?" Well, as you pass the stork fountain to enter the Lakeside Clubhouse, you will see several of them in pots along both sides of the walk. These are Cycads, or by common name, Sago Palms.
Although resembling a palm, they are not at all related. Cycads deserve the qualifying title of living fossils since they reached their highest point of evolution in the Mesozoic (about 200 million years ago), before there were dinosaurs.
Later, they existed with dinosaurs and were perhaps being eaten by them. Unlike the dinosaurs, however, the cycads never became extinct and now are as abundant or diverse as in their Mesozoic hey-day. During that time they made up 20% of the world's flora and were an important part of the vegetation. They were the trees and shrubs, which along with the conifers and ginkgos, dominated the Mesozoic forests. For this reason, the Mesozoic and especially the Jurassic is often referred to as the "Age of Cycads."
In the past, cycads grew throughout the world from Alaska and Siberia to the Antarctic. Fossils have been found in every continent. Cycads thrived during the generally warmer climate and higher moisture of the Mesozoic period. Fossils show many of the characteristics of the cycads today, indicating very little change over those millions of years.
Although scientifically they are plants of much interest because of their antiquity, economically they have little food value. The main value of the cycad is its ornamental appeal--the reason
Cycas revoluta is so popular today.
So, the next time you enter the Lakeside Clubhouse, notice the Cycads and remember they lived with the dinosaurs but survived them.