Cycas andamanica

Cycas andamanica is a name published in 2015 for a tree-like cycad of the Andaman Islands, in the Bay of Bengal, where it grows in coastal forest. This name in the genus Cycas is no longer accepted: The World List of Cycads lists it among the synonyms of Cycas pschannae, a species described the same year, following the revision of the cycads of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands published by Lal Ji Singh and Dharam Raj Misra in 2020. This page explains that status; the description, range and uses given below are those of Cycas pschannae, taken from its original description.

Key facts about Cycas andamanica

  • Status of the name: synonym of Cycas pschannae R.C.Srivast. & L.J.Singh (2015) according to The World List of Cycads (version 2026.08.15), which follows Singh and Misra (2020); POWO could not be consulted directly
  • Authors of the synonym: Cycas andamanica K.Prasad, M.V.Ramana, Sanjappa & B.R.P.Rao (2015)
  • Family: Cycadaceae, order Cycadales
  • Common names: no English common name attested; no vernacular name found in the sources consulted
  • Natural range: India, Andaman Islands (North, Middle and South Andaman, according to the description of Cycas pschannae)
  • IUCN status: Cycas pschannae has not been evaluated under that name (NE) according to The World List of Cycads; the Red List places Cycas andamanica and Cycas pschannae in Cycas sainathii, listed as Vulnerable (VU, assessment published in 2022)
  • CITES and other protection: CITES Appendix II (whole family; seeds exempt under annotation #4); Annex B in the European Union
  • Documented hardiness: no data (see Cold hardiness)
  • Light and soil: in the wild, coastal forest near the sea on sandy soil and the edges of low-altitude evergreen forest behind the beaches; no cultivation data
  • Habit and adult size: tree up to 12 m, trunk up to 30 cm across; leaves up to 205 cm long
  • In the UK, US and Australia: no botanic garden found under either name
  • Toxicity: no study specific to the plant; treat it as poisonous, like all Cycas (see Toxicity and precautions)

A taxonomic note

Cycas andamanica no longer denotes a separate species. Between 2014 and 2017 several new cycads were described from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with much-debated limits: Cycas sainathii, Cycas darshii, Cycas andamanica, Cycas pschannae and Cycas dharmrajii. The revision by Singh and Misra, published in the Indian Journal of Forestry in 2020, reduced this set: Cycas andamanica became a synonym of Cycas pschannae, Cycas darshii a synonym of Cycas sphaerica and Cycas sainathii a synonym of Cycas zeylanica. The World List of Cycads has adopted this treatment.

Before this revision, the two names of 2015 had been placed together under Cycas sainathii: the former entry of The World List of Cycads, quoted on eFlora of India, gave Cycas pschannae and Cycas andamanica as synonyms of Cycas sainathii, and the current version of the list states that Cycas pschannae was reinstated as a species following Singh and Misra (2020). Up-to-date information should therefore be sought under the name Cycas pschannae.

How to recognise Cycas andamanica

The plants referred to this name are large, tree-like cycads of the Andaman coast. The character that, according to its authors, separates Cycas pschannae from its neighbours lies on the megasporophylls (the fertile leaves of female plants): the triangular sterile part carries at its base two unequal, horn-shaped lateral teeth. The original description by Srivastava and Singh (2015) gives the following characters.

  • Habit: tree up to 12 m; trunk up to 30 cm across, not swollen at the base, sometimes branching at the base into two trunks.
  • Leaves: dark green, glossy and hairless above, paler beneath, up to 205 cm long, with 82 to 115 pairs of leaflets.
  • Leaflets: up to 24 cm by 1.5 cm, pointed at the tip, with a single midrib as in all Cycas.
  • Petiole: up to 65 cm, hairless, spiny.
  • Megasporophylls: up to 45 cm, felted, yellowish brown, carrying 2 to 3 pairs of ovules; triangular sterile part with two unequal, horn-shaped lateral teeth, green and hairless beneath, ending in an abruptly and long-drawn-out point of 5 to 8 cm, with an entire or toothed margin, more or less folded inwards.

Like all Cycas, the plant is dioecious. The original description does not describe the male cones or the seeds. Some descriptions circulating under the name Cycas andamanica mention a “semi-orbicular to orbicular” blade, a trunk “over 9 m” and a cylindrical male cone; these characters are not in the description of Cycas pschannae and are not repeated here.

Hybrids

No hybrid, natural or horticultural, is known under the name Cycas andamanica or under Cycas pschannae. The debate in the Andamans concerns the limits between closely related species, not hybridisation.

Possible confusion

The World List of Cycads recognises three cycads in the archipelago: Cycas zeylanica (also found in Sri Lanka), Cycas pschannae and Cycas dharmrajii. The authors of Cycas pschannae compare it with Cycas zeylanica and with Cycas sainathii (now included in Cycas zeylanica), from which it differs by the two horn-shaped teeth of its megasporophylls. Cycas dharmrajii, described in 2017, is recognised, according to the Indian news site GKToday, by its giant trunk swollen at the base and unusually branched, and by its megasporophylls carrying 10 to 28 hook-like structures. The revision by Singh and Misra (2020) includes a key to the species of the archipelago that could not be read: the limits between these taxa remain debated.

Taxonomy

The name Cycas andamanica was published in 2015 by K. Prasad, M. V. Ramana, M. Sanjappa and B. R. P. Rao in the International Journal of Innovative Science and Research (volume 4, pages 473 to 476). The holotype (K. Prasad and M. V. Ramana 1288), collected on 10 January 2011 in the coastal forest of Ramnagar, on North Andaman, between 0 and 10 m above sea level, is kept at the Central National Herbarium in Kolkata (CAL). This article could not be read: the journal’s website is no longer online and no archived copy could be obtained.

The same year, R. C. Srivastava and Lal Ji Singh, of the Botanical Survey of India, described Cycas pschannae in the International Journal of Current Research in Biosciences and Plant Biology (volume 2, issue 8, pages 35 to 37). The type (R. C. Srivastava, RCS Cy 19, CAL) comes from a tree grown at the Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden in Howrah, near Kolkata, introduced from the Andamans long before; it had produced female structures there in 2001. The authors then observed several natural populations during a field trip to the Andamans in July 2014.

In 2020 Singh and Misra concluded that the two names referred to the same plant and kept Cycas pschannae; Cycas andamanica became its synonym. Only the abstract of this revision could be read, but the reason for the choice is given in a discussion published on eFlora of India, the collaborative website of the Indian flora: according to one of the botanists involved, Cycas pschannae appeared in August 2015 and Cycas andamanica in September 2015, in issue 9 of its journal, so the rule of priority imposes the first name. IPNI also gives issue 9, whereas The World List of Cycads gives issue 1.

Some sources attach Cycas andamanica to subsection Rumphiae and compare it with Cycas edentata, after its original description. As that description could not be read, these statements are not repeated here.

Etymology and history

The epithet andamanica simply refers to the Andaman Islands, where the plant comes from. The accepted name, pschannae, honours Dr Paramjit Singh Channa, then director of the Botanical Survey of India (original description, as taken up by The World List of Cycads).

The story of this cycad begins in a botanic garden: its authors relate that in 2001 a small tree in the Howrah garden, introduced from the Andamans long before and never closely studied, produced a compact cluster of yellowish-brown megasporophylls, which loosened with age. After comparison with the literature and the type specimens, they judged it new to science. In 2017 the Indian press presented Cycas pschannae and Cycas dharmrajii as two new species, bringing the number of Indian cycads to fourteen at the time.

Common names

No common name is attested in English. The sources consulted give no Indian vernacular name specific to this plant.

In the wild

Cycas pschannae, under which Cycas andamanica is now placed, is endemic to the Andaman Islands: its original description records it on North, Middle and South Andaman. It is abundant there in coastal forest near the sea, on sandy soil, and on the edges of low-altitude evergreen forest behind the beaches. The type of Cycas andamanica also comes from coastal forest, between 0 and 10 m above sea level.

The World List of Cycads gives its range as “India (Andaman and Nicobar Islands)” without saying whether the species occurs in the Nicobars. No source consulted describes the seeds of this cycad, so the floating seeds with a spongy layer sometimes attributed to it cannot be confirmed.

Conservation status and regulation

The status depends on the name used. For The World List of Cycads, which places Cycas andamanica under Cycas pschannae, the species has not been evaluated (NE). The IUCN Red List follows another treatment: it places Cycas andamanica, Cycas pschannae and Cycas dharmrajii in Cycas sainathii in the broad sense, listed as Vulnerable (VU) in the assessment by L. J. Singh published in 2022 (version 2022-1), according to the Red List dataset relayed by GBIF (consulted on 21 October 2026). The criteria and threats could not be read, as the Red List itself could not be consulted. The original description of Cycas pschannae describes it as abundant in coastal forest; no population estimate was found. One threat is documented in the wild: the cycad blue butterfly, Luthrodes pandava, whose caterpillars feed on the cycads of the archipelago (see Pests and diseases).

Like all Cycas, it is covered by CITES Appendix II, where the family Cycadaceae has been listed since 4 February 1977; annotation #4 (CoP20 version, in force since 5 March 2026) exempts seeds, among other items, while live plants still need permits in international trade. The United Kingdom, the United States and Australia apply CITES through their own national legislation; in the European Union it is in Annex B of Regulation (EC) No 338/97, whose annexes in force are set by Commission Regulation (EU) 2026/1383, applicable since 29 June 2026. This general information was checked in October 2026 and does not replace the official texts: check the rules in force before buying or importing a plant.

Growing Cycas andamanica

In short: no growing experience has been published outside India. The original description says only that the species can be grown as an ornamental tree, and the history of the taxon, discovered on a tree grown for decades in the Howrah garden, shows that it adapts to cultivation in a tropical climate.

Outdoor and in-ground cultivation

The following points are deduced from the habitat, not from documented results: a cycad of tropical coastal forest probably needs constant warmth, plenty of light, a well-drained sandy soil and regular watering during growth. Outdoors it can only be considered in frost-free tropical climates. Some sources credit it with tolerance of salt spray and USDA zones 10b to 11; no source documents either.

Container cultivation

In the United Kingdom and other temperate regions, the only cautious option is a pot kept in a heated glasshouse or indoors in winter; its adult size (up to 12 m) eventually limits it to large glasshouses. In Europe, no cultivation is recorded under either name: a search of the French forum Fous de palmiers and the Italian forum Tropicamente found nothing, and the Jardin zoologique tropical at La Londe-les-Maures, in the south of France, has published no observation on this plant.

In cultivation in the UK, US and Australia

In short: no record found under either name. Neither Cycas andamanica nor Cycas pschannae appears in the online catalogues of the botanic gardens checked (Montgomery Botanical Center and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Florida, the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Cambridge University Botanic Garden) or in the British, American and Australian lists of the BGCI PlantSearch database consulted in October 2026. No report from a private grower in these countries was found; PalmTalk and Dave’s Garden could not be consulted.

Propagation

According to its original description, Cycas pschannae is propagated from seed or from bulbils, the small shoots that sometimes form on the trunk. As the plant is dioecious, seed production requires a male and a female plant and, in cultivation, hand pollination. The fleshy coat of the seed is removed before sowing, wearing gloves. Look only for seed or plants of legal, documented origin.

Pests and diseases

One pest is documented in the wild on the species under which Cycas andamanica is now placed. Purti, Singh and Pandey (2022) recorded for the first time in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Luthrodes pandava, a small butterfly of the family Lycaenidae whose caterpillars attack all the aerial parts of cycads and slow their growth; they name Cycas pschannae and Cycas dharmrajii as new host plants and consider the endemic cycads of the archipelago more susceptible to this damage than introduced species. In cultivation, cycad scales, including Aulacaspis yasumatsui, can affect any species, and overwatering or poor drainage rots the trunk and roots; no cultivation problem specific to this plant has been published.

Cold hardiness

There are no cold-tolerance data for the plants referred to Cycas andamanica or Cycas pschannae. They live in the tropical coastal forests of the Andamans, with no cold season, and nothing suggests that they can take frost.

European experience

No result of outdoor cultivation has been published in Europe, on the Mediterranean coast or elsewhere, and no dated frost episode concerns this plant. Searches of the French forum Fous de palmiers and the Italian forum Tropicamente, under both names, found nothing; Mediterranean experience therefore offers no guide.

United Kingdom, United States and Australia

No cold measurement was found in any country. The hardiness zones sometimes quoted for this plant rest on no documented trial and are not repeated here; treat it as frost-tender.

Toxicity and precautions

No toxicity study specific to this plant was found, but the risk is well documented in the genus: Cycas tissues, and the seeds above all, contain cycasin, which is converted during digestion into methylazoxymethanol, toxic to the liver and nervous system, along with a neurotoxic amino acid, BMAA. The ASPCA lists the sago palm (Cycas revoluta) as poisonous to dogs, cats and horses. The local consumption of young leaves and cooked ovules described below in no way proves that the plant is harmless. Treat it as poisonous and, if any part is swallowed, contact a poison centre, a doctor or a vet straight away.

Traditional uses

The original description of Cycas pschannae reports several uses in the Andamans. The leaves are used in religious and cultural ceremonies, together with those of local palms (Areca triandra, Caryota mitis, Licuala peltata) and wild bananas. The crown of young leaves and the ovules are eaten cooked, as a vegetable, by the settlers known as “Ranchi”, wherever the plant grows wild. The ripe seeds, once emptied, are used as spoons or as small boxes to keep lime and chewing tobacco. These uses are reported for the record and should not be imitated.

Frequently asked questions

Is Cycas andamanica a valid species?

No. The World List of Cycads treats it as a synonym of Cycas pschannae, following the revision by Singh and Misra (2020).

What is the accepted name?

Cycas pschannae R.C.Srivast. & L.J.Singh, described in 2015 and named after Paramjit Singh Channa, then director of the Botanical Survey of India.

Where does the name andamanica come from?

From the Andaman Islands, in the Bay of Bengal, where the plant described in 2015 comes from.

Where does it grow in the wild?

In the Andaman Islands, India: coastal forest near the sea on sandy soil and low-altitude evergreen forest behind the beaches.

How can it be recognised?

Mainly by its megasporophylls: the triangular sterile part carries two unequal, horn-shaped lateral teeth and ends in a long point. The plant is a tree that can reach 12 m.

Can it be grown outdoors in the UK?

No, almost certainly not. No cold data exist and the plant comes from the tropical coasts of the Andamans: grow it in a pot in a heated glasshouse or indoors in winter.

Is it poisonous?

It must be assumed so. In the Andamans young leaves and ovules are eaten cooked, but cycads contain dangerous toxins, especially in the seeds: this is not a practice to imitate.

Further reading on Succulentes

Sources

Reference sites

Bibliography

  • Prasad, K., Ramana, M.V., Rao, B.R.P. & Sanjappa, M. (2015). Cycas andamanica (Cycadaceae): a new species from Andaman Islands, India. International Journal of Innovative Science and Research 4: 473–476. [Original description of the synonym; issue 9 according to IPNI, 1 according to The World List of Cycads; text not consulted, journal website gone.]
  • Srivastava, R.C. & Singh, L.J. (2015). A new species of Indian Cycas. International Journal of Current Research in Biosciences and Plant Biology 2(8): 35–37. [Original description of the accepted name Cycas pschannae; full text consulted.]
  • Singh, L.J. & Misra, D.R. (2020). Reappraisal of the genus Cycas L. (Cycadaceae) in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. Indian Journal of Forestry 43(1): 46–57. doi:10.54207/bsmps1000-2021-513ETJ [Revision placing Cycas andamanica in the synonymy of Cycas pschannae; abstract only read.]
  • Singh, L. (2022). Cycas sainathii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: e.T103631608A243419871. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T103631608A243419871.en [VU assessment of Cycas sainathii in the broad sense, including Cycas andamanica and Cycas pschannae; reference checked on Crossref and GBIF; Red List page not consulted.]
  • Purti, N., Singh, L.J. & Pandey, A.K. (2022). New hosts for the cycad blue butterfly, Luthrodes pandava, Horsfield (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in an island ecosystem. Feddes Repertorium 133(3): 234–243. doi:10.1002/fedr.202100024 [First record of the pest in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Cycas pschannae and Cycas dharmrajii new hosts; peer-reviewed article, abstract read on Crossref.]
  • Calonje, M., Stevenson, D.W. & Osborne, R. (2026). The World List of Cycads, version 2026.08.15. Montgomery Botanical Center, Coral Gables. doi:10.5281/zenodo.21958524 [Reference checklist; consulted directly.]