Cycas mindanaensis

Cycas mindanaensis is a cycad of the island of Mindanao, in the Philippines, known from the provinces of Davao Oriental and Davao del Norte, in the south-east of the island. Described in 2019 by the Philippine botanists E.M.G. Agoo, D.A. Madulid and J.R. Callado, this member of the genus Cycas is named after the island where it was first collected. Its type comes from disturbed forest near Mati, at about 200 m. The species remains very poorly documented: its original description could not be read, and the IUCN has not yet assessed it.

Key facts about Cycas mindanaensis

  • Accepted name: Cycas mindanaensis Agoo, Madulid & J.R.Callado (2019), accepted by The World List of Cycads (version 2026.08.15) and by GBIF; POWO could not be consulted
  • Former names and synonyms: none
  • Family: Cycadaceae, order Cycadales
  • Common names: none attested, in English or in any other language
  • Natural range: Philippines, south-eastern Mindanao (Davao Oriental and Davao del Norte)
  • IUCN status: Not Evaluated (NE)
  • CITES and other protection: CITES Appendix II (seeds exempt under annotation #4); Annex B in the European Union
  • Documented hardiness: no data (see Cold hardiness)
  • Light and soil: disturbed forest at about 200 m (type locality); no further habitat information in the sources consulted
  • Habit and adult size: not documented in the sources consulted
  • In the UK, US and Australia: Montgomery Botanical Center (Florida) lists accessions from 2023 and 2025; no British or Australian record found
  • Toxicity: no data for the species; treat it as poisonous, like all Cycas (see Toxicity and precautions)

How to recognise Cycas mindanaensis

No reliable description can be given here. The full account of the plant (trunk, leaves, cones and seeds) is in the original publication, in the Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden (volume 117, pages 531 to 533, figure 34-1). That text is behind a paywall, the publisher’s page could not be reached, Crossref holds no abstract, and no other accessible source repeats the description. No character or measurement is therefore given, so as not to put forward anything unverified.

Hybrids

No hybrid is documented for this species.

Possible confusion

As the original description could not be read, it is not known which species the authors compared Cycas mindanaensis with, nor by which characters they separated it. The other cycads of Mindanao are Cycas edentata, a coastal cycad with megasporophylls almost without teeth and buoyant, spongy seeds; Cycas lacrimans, an eastern Mindanao cycad with drooping leaves, described in 2008 from the same Mati area; Cycas sancti-lasallei; and Cycas flabellata, described in the same article. Because Cycas lacrimans grows in the same district, identifying a plant without cones is particularly risky.

Taxonomy

Cycas mindanaensis is a name accepted by The World List of Cycads and by GBIF; POWO could not be consulted. The species was described in 2019 in the article “Novel species of Cycas (Cycadaceae) from Mindanao Island, Philippines” (Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 117: 529–539), which also describes Cycas flabellata. IPNI records the name. Its placement in a section or subsection of the genus is not stated in the sources consulted.

It is one of the species described from the Philippines since the revision by Lindström, Hill and Stanberg (2008). As early as 2009, Hill and Stanberg expected further discoveries in the south-east of the archipelago, from Mindoro and southern Luzon to Mindanao, a region where political instability and human impact made fieldwork difficult. Agoo and Madulid had already described Cycas sancti-lasallei, also from Mindanao, together in 2012.

Etymology and history

The epithet refers to the island of Mindanao, in the Philippines, where the species was first collected (Haynes 2022, as cited by The World List of Cycads).

The type was collected in May 2012 by Casumpang in the municipality of Mati, Davao Oriental province, at barangay Macambol, sitio Wagon, in disturbed forest at 200 m (Casumpang 12-103; holotype at the Philippine National Herbarium, PNH; isotype at the De La Salle University herbarium, DLSUH). No history of its introduction into cultivation is documented, although plants have recently entered an American collection (see below).

Common names

No common name is attested for this species, in English or in any Philippine language, in the sources consulted.

In the wild

The World List of Cycads records Cycas mindanaensis in two provinces of south-eastern Mindanao, Davao Oriental and Davao del Norte. The only habitat information available comes from the type label: disturbed forest at about 200 m. The size of the populations, the substrate, the pollinator and the phenology are not documented in the accessible sources, and GBIF holds no occurrence record under this name (consulted on 21 October 2026).

Conservation status and regulation

Cycas mindanaensis has not been evaluated by the IUCN (NE), according to The World List of Cycads and the Red List data relayed by GBIF (consulted on 21 October 2026). The original publication could not be read: a search-engine extract of its abstract attributes to the authors the view that the two new species are threatened, mainly by human activities, but this is unverified, and no proposed category or criteria are known. The type itself comes from forest that was already disturbed.

In the Philippines the two main threats to cycads in general are habitat loss and the removal of plants from the wild, and the Asian cycad scale is spreading on several islands (Lindström et al. 2008; see Pests and diseases).

Like every species in the genus except Cycas beddomei, Cycas mindanaensis falls under CITES Appendix II, through the listing of the family Cycadaceae, included since 4 February 1977. The listing carries annotation #4 (CoP20 version, in force since 5 March 2026): seeds, pollen, seedlings or tissue cultures obtained in vitro and transported in sterile containers, and cut flowers of artificially propagated plants, are exempt, whereas international trade in the plants themselves requires an export permit. Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States apply CITES through their own national legislation; in the European Union the species 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. Species+, the official CITES database, did not yet list this name, published in 2019 (search of 3 October 2026): protection follows from the listing of the whole family, which covers every species, named or not.

This general information does not replace the official texts: check the rules in force before buying or exchanging plants, ask the seller for proof of origin and prefer plants raised from cultivated seed.

Growing Cycas mindanaensis

In short: no growing advice has been published for Cycas mindanaensis, and no grower’s report was found. As a plant of a tropical island, it can be assumed to need warmth all year round; this is a deduction, not a published growing result.

Outdoor and in-ground cultivation

Only frost-free tropical and near-tropical climates can be considered. The Montgomery Botanical Center, at Coral Gables in Florida, whose collection is grown outdoors, has very recently accessioned the species (see below); no planting result has been published there or elsewhere.

Container cultivation

In temperate climates it would need a heated glasshouse; no container-growing report has been found. Searches of the French forum Fous de palmiers and the Italian forum Tropicamente returned no result for this species, and the Jardin zoologique tropical at La Londe-les-Maures, in the south of France, has published no observation on it.

In cultivation in the UK, US and Australia

The online catalogue of Montgomery Botanical Center (Florida) lists Cycas mindanaensis under four accession numbers: 20230342, which by the garden’s numbering dates from 2023, and 20250375 to 20250377, from 2025. It lists eleven further accessions from 2023 and 2025 as “Cycas aff. mindanaensis”, a name the catalogue marks as unchecked, meaning plants close to the species whose identity is not settled (search of 21 October 2026). The catalogue does not say how the plants are doing. No garden declares the species in BGCI PlantSearch (search of 21 October 2026), and it is absent from British and Australian records in the inventory of cycads compiled for this site (19 October 2026). No report from an English-speaking grower could be read; PalmTalk and Dave’s Garden could not be consulted.

Propagation

The plant is dioecious: a male and a female plant are needed to obtain seed. No germination data specific to the species have been published. Seeds are exempt from CITES under annotation #4; ask for seed from cultivated plants.

Pests and diseases

No pest or disease specific to the species is documented. In the Philippines the Asian cycad scale, Aulacaspis yasumatsui, is spreading rapidly and seriously affects cultivated cycads on several islands (Luzon, Negros, Panay); in 2008 its presence in wild populations had not been confirmed (Lindström et al. 2008).

Cold hardiness

No cold-tolerance data exist for Cycas mindanaensis. Mindanao has a frost-free tropical climate, and nothing allows us to say that the plant tolerates frost.

Mediterranean experience

No growing result has been published in Europe, in the ground or in a pot, and no dated frost event concerns the species; the Jardin zoologique tropical in the Var has published nothing on it.

United Kingdom, United States and Australia

No cold reading or dated growing report was found, either on forums or from botanic gardens; the Montgomery accessions are too recent to have produced any. No USDA zone can be given. In the UK, and in most of the United States and Australia outside the tropics, keep it under heated glass.

Toxicity and precautions

No toxicity analysis specific to Cycas mindanaensis has been found. The risk is, however, 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. Until proven otherwise, treat the plant as poisonous: keep seeds and leaves out of reach of children and pets, and wear gloves to clean the seeds. If any part is swallowed, contact a poison centre, a doctor or a vet straight away.

Traditional uses

No use is documented for this species in the sources consulted.

Frequently asked questions

What does mindanaensis mean?

“From Mindanao”: the name recalls the Philippine island where the species was first collected.

Where does Cycas mindanaensis grow?

In south-eastern Mindanao, in the provinces of Davao Oriental and Davao del Norte; the type comes from disturbed forest near Mati, at about 200 m.

When was it described?

In 2019, by Philippine botanists, in the same article as Cycas flabellata.

Is it the same as Cycas lacrimans?

No. They are two accepted species, both known from around Mati; the characters that separate them could not be read in the original description.

Is it endangered?

Not known. The IUCN has not assessed it, and the original description could not be read; a search-engine extract describes it as threatened by human activities, which cannot be verified. It is in any case covered by CITES Appendix II.

Is it hardy?

Almost certainly not. No cold data exist; it is a plant of a tropical island.

Is it poisonous?

It must be assumed so. No analysis exists for the species, but all the cycads studied contain serious toxins, especially in the seeds.

Further reading on Succulentes

Sources

Reference sites

Bibliography

  • Agoo, E.M.G., Madulid, D.A. & Callado, J.R. (2019). Novel species of Cycas (Cycadaceae) from Mindanao Island, Philippines. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 117: 529–539. doi:10.21135/893275389.034 [Original description (pp. 531–533); not consulted: publisher’s page unreachable and no abstract on Crossref (checked on 21 October 2026); its summary was seen only as a search-engine extract, which is not treated as a source.]
  • Lindström, A.J., Hill, K.D. & Stanberg, L.C. (2008). The genus Cycas (Cycadaceae) in The Philippines. Telopea 12(1): 119–145. doi:10.7751/telopea20085805 [Revision of the Philippine cycads, cycad scale; full text consulted.]
  • Hill, K.D. & Stanberg, L.C. (2009). Notes on Cycas truncata de Laub. and related matters. Telopea 12(3): 447–450. doi:10.7751/telopea20095832 [New species expected in the south-east of the Philippines; full text consulted.]
  • Haynes, J.L. (2022). Etymological compendium of cycad names. Phytotaxa 550(1): 1–31. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.550.1.1 [Source of the etymologies given by The World List of Cycads; not consulted directly.]
  • 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.]