Bowenia serrulata

Bowenia serrulata, the Byfield fern, is a cycad with no visible trunk from central-eastern Queensland, Australia, where it is confined to the Byfield area, north-east of Rockhampton, near the Tropic of Capricorn. It is one of the two species of the genus Bowenia, the only living cycads whose leaves are divided twice: its glossy fronds with finely toothed leaflets rise straight from an underground stem and are easily mistaken for those of a fern. First published in 1878 as a variety of Bowenia spectabilis, under the name Bowenia spectabilis var. serrulata, it was raised to species rank in 1912. It is classed as Least Concern by the IUCN.

Key facts about Bowenia serrulata

  • Accepted name: Bowenia serrulata (W.Bull) Chamb. (1912), accepted by The World List of Cycads (version 2026.08.15), the World Checklist of Vascular Plants and the Australian Plant Census
  • Former names and synonyms: Bowenia spectabilis var. serrulata W.Bull (1878), the basionym; Bowenia spectabilis var. serrata F.M.Bailey (1883)
  • Family: Zamiaceae according to The World List of Cycads and the World Checklist of Vascular Plants; Stangeriaceae in CITES nomenclature (Species+) and in the Flora of Australia of 1998
  • Common names: Byfield fern, butcher’s fern
  • Natural range: Australia, central-eastern Queensland, Byfield area north-east of Rockhampton
  • IUCN status: Least Concern (LC), assessment by J.D. Bösenberg dated 16 October 2020 and published in 2022
  • CITES and other protection: CITES Appendix II (annotation #4); Annex B in the European Union; “special least concern” in Queensland (Nature Conservation (Animals/Plants) Regulation 2020); not listed under the federal EPBC Act
  • Documented hardiness: no measured value; frost tolerance described as “light” by a seed nursery (see Cold hardiness)
  • Light and soil: filtered sun to shade; a moist but free-draining, humus-rich sandy loam
  • Habit and adult size: underground stem up to 25 cm across, with 5 to 20 short branches; fronds 1 to 2 m long
  • In the UK, US and Australia: declared to BGCI by 37 gardens, among them 12 in Australia, 11 in the United States and one in the United Kingdom (see In cultivation)
  • Toxicity: the leaves have poisoned cattle in feeding trials; treat the whole plant, and above all the seeds, as toxic (see Toxicity and precautions)

How to recognise Bowenia serrulata

It is recognised by its erect, dark green, glossy fronds, each divided into several branches (pinnae) carrying leaflets whose margins are sharply and regularly toothed, and by its large, rounded underground stem with many crowns. The Flora of Australia (1998) and the Queensland government’s WildNet profile give the following characters.

  • Stem: underground, up to 25 cm across, with a long tuberous taproot; it divides into 5 to 20 short, slender branches that carry the leaves and cones. Chamberlain (1912) describes it as spherical or turnip-shaped, “usually about the size of a man’s head”.
  • Leaves: 5 to 30 per crown according to the Flora of Australia (3 to 35 according to WildNet), erect, 1 to 2 m long and up to 1 m wide, on a petiole up to 1 m long; 6 to 16 spreading pinnae.
  • Leaflets: 7 to 30 per pinna, obliquely lanceolate, narrowed into the axis at the base, 7 to 15 cm long and 1.5 to 4 cm wide, without a midrib, sharply and regularly toothed, a few sometimes coarsely torn. The Palm and Cycad Societies of Australia (PACSOA) give smaller figures, 6 to 10 cm by 2 to 3 cm.
  • Male cones: stalked, egg-shaped, up to 5 cm long and 2.5 cm across according to the Flora of Australia, 4 to 7 cm by 2.5 to 3 cm according to WildNet.
  • Female cones: stalkless, egg-shaped to globular, up to 10 cm long and 10 cm across (Flora of Australia), 8 to 12 cm by 7 to 10 cm (WildNet).
  • Seeds: up to 32 mm long and 18 mm wide, with a white fleshy coat that turns dull purple when ripe.

Plants are male or female. Chamberlain noted that each slender branch usually carries a single leaf at a time, sometimes two or three, and that these branches often branch again, which gives the species a much denser foliage than Bowenia spectabilis.

Hybrids

No hybrid, natural or garden-raised, is documented in the botanical literature. The two species grow several hundred kilometres apart and each has its own pollinating weevil.

Possible confusion

The only plant it can be confused with is the other species of the genus.

  • Bowenia spectabilis, of north-eastern Queensland: leaflets usually with entire margins, a smaller stem (up to 10 cm across) with only 1 to 5 crowns, and 1 to 7 leaves per crown. WildNet notes that the number of crowns separates the two species and that their ranges do not overlap. Individuals with toothed leaflets occur occasionally in most populations of Bowenia spectabilis (Flora of Australia), notably the form sold as Bowenia ‘Tinaroo’: for a cultivated plant, its origin (Byfield or north-eastern Queensland) is the best clue.

The fronds also look like those of a fern, but the cones are enough to identify it as a cycad.

Taxonomy

Bowenia serrulata (W.Bull) Chamb. is accepted by The World List of Cycads, by the World Checklist of Vascular Plants (Kew, read on GBIF) and by the Australian Plant Census. It was first published by the London nurseryman William Bull in 1878, in his sales catalogue (Retail List no. 143), as Bowenia spectabilis var. serrulata, illustrated on plate 5. In 1883 F.M. Bailey published a Bowenia spectabilis var. serrata in his Synopsis of the Queensland Flora, now treated as a synonym.

The American botanist Charles J. Chamberlain raised the plant to species rank in 1912, in the Botanical Gazette, after studying both Bowenia in the field. He found the variety so abundant around Maryvale and Byfield, near Rockhampton, that it formed a dense undergrowth, and saw no plant resembling Bowenia spectabilis there over 20 miles; the differences in leaflets, stems and geographical range seemed to him to justify two species. He credited the varietal name to André (L’Illustration horticole, 1879); The World List of Cycads and the Australian Plant Census now credit it to Bull (1878), hence the author citation “(W.Bull) Chamb.”.

Later work has confirmed the two species. G.W. Wilson’s thesis (2004), which combined morphology, chromosomes and pollinating insects across six populations, recognised only two species, Bowenia serrulata in central Queensland and Bowenia spectabilis in north-eastern Queensland, separated for millions of years by the dry Burdekin Gap. The chromosome study by Kokubugata and colleagues (2000) found the same number (2n = 18) in both, but ten chromosomes with a median centromere in Bowenia serrulata against eight in Bowenia spectabilis. According to Hsiao and Oberprieler (2022), the limits of Bowenia serrulata have never been contentious.

The family placement of the genus varies with the source: Stangeriaceae in the Flora of Australia (1998) and in CITES nomenclature, sometimes a family of its own (Boweniaceae), Zamiaceae in The World List of Cycads and the World Checklist of Vascular Plants. This changes no name; the genus page gives the details.

Etymology and history

The epithet comes from the Latin serrulatus, “finely serrate” or “toothed”, referring to the toothed margins of the leaflets (Haynes, 2022, cited by The World List of Cycads). The genus name honours Sir George F. Bowen (1821–1899), first Governor of Queensland, from 1859 to 1868 (Flora of Australia).

The species entered science through horticulture, from a plant offered for sale by William Bull in London in 1878. In his account of a field visit, published in 1912, Chamberlain noted that the main stem “has a remarkably tenacious hold on life” and that, where it had been torn by the plough, numerous new buds could start. The fronds were later harvested commercially for the florist trade (see Traditional uses). The species was assessed as Least Concern by K.D. Hill for the IUCN Red List published in 2010, and again by J.D. Bösenberg in the assessment published in 2022.

Common names

The usual name is “Byfield fern”, after the locality where the plant abounds; it is the name used by the Flora of Australia, the Australian Plant Census, WildNet and Species+. The Flora of Australia also gives “butcher’s fern”, a name explained by the Queensland naturalist Leonard Butt: the long-lasting fronds lined the back walls of butchers’ shops and served as backing for cut flowers and wreaths. Both names contain the word “fern”, although the plant is a cycad. No Aboriginal name is recorded.

In the wild

Bowenia serrulata is endemic to the Byfield area, north-east of Rockhampton, in central-eastern Queensland (Flora of Australia, WildNet), in the Central Queensland Coast bioregion (Hsiao and Oberprieler, 2022). Herbarium specimens come from Waterpark Creek and the surroundings of Byfield. The populations are scattered but locally abundant.

The sources describe its habitat differently. The Flora of Australia speaks of dry sclerophyll eucalypt forest, and Chamberlain (1912) of a dense undergrowth in the prevailing eucalypt bush. WildNet places it in moist areas of open forest and woodland, notophyll vine forest and rainforest, on sandy or brown clay soils, along creeks and on steep coastal hills, and Wilson’s thesis in tall moist or closed forest. The Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants key gives an altitude range from sea level to about 700 m. Leonard Butt also found large plants, with petioles and leaf axes up to 2 m long, in a pine plantation south-west of Byfield.

Pollination is carried out by a weevil specific to the species, Miltotranes subopacus, described from Byfield: its larvae develop in the male cones and the adults carry pollen to the female cones. Wilson (2002) showed that female cones from which wind- and water-borne pollen, but not insects, were excluded still set seed, so pollination depends on insects. Cones are produced once a year, just before the wet season (Wilson, 2004). Wilson’s thesis also records that the leaf beetle Lilioceris nigripes distinguishes between the Bowenia of central and north-eastern Queensland.

Conservation status and regulation

Bowenia serrulata is not considered threatened. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, in an assessment by J.D. Bösenberg dated 16 October 2020 and published in 2022, which replaced the 2010 assessment by K.D. Hill, also LC (The World List of Cycads, GBIF and Crossref, checked on 31 October 2026). In Queensland, WildNet lists it as “special least concern” under the Nature Conservation (Animals/Plants) Regulation 2020, as a restricted plant under the state’s wildlife management regulation, and among the species whose locality records are kept confidential. It is not listed under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC).

Like all Bowenia, it has been listed in CITES Appendix II since 4 February 1977, with annotation #4 in the version in force since 5 March 2026: live plants need an export permit, while seeds, pollen and seedlings or tissue cultures obtained in vitro in sterile containers are exempt. In the European Union it falls under Annex B of Regulation (EC) No 338/97, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1383, applicable since 29 June 2026 (Species+, checked on 31 October 2026). Check the regulations in force, and the customs and plant-health rules, before any purchase abroad.

The fronds were once harvested for the florist trade under licences granting exclusive rights over an area; according to PACSOA, the plant is now protected and too slow-growing to be produced commercially for this use. Buy seed-grown plants of known origin.

Growing Bowenia serrulata

Bowenia serrulata is an understorey cycad: it wants shade or filtered light, a soil that stays moist but drains freely, and a humid atmosphere. The Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants key calls it easily grown and long cultivated, and an attractive indoor pot plant. Its growth rate is described as moderate by a seed nursery, whereas Wilson (2004) describes the genus as slow-growing.

Outdoor and in-ground cultivation

  • Climate: the seed nursery Rare Palm Seeds says it can be grown in tropical and warm temperate climates, where it prefers warm, humid conditions out of the sun. In the ground, it is only an option in frost-free climates.
  • Light: filtered sun (PACSOA); in his Brisbane garden, Leonard Butt grew his plants mostly in dappled sunlight. Rare Palm Seeds recommends light shade in all climates and deep shade for young plants and in hot, dry climates.
  • Soil: a good sandy loam enriched with humus (Butt); moist but free-draining, since standing water rots the underground stem.
  • Water and wind: high water needs and low wind tolerance (Rare Palm Seeds), in line with its forest habitat; high humidity (PACSOA).

Container cultivation

It makes a very good pot plant (PACSOA). In Brisbane, Butt grew plants in 200 mm containers with fronds up to 1 m long. Outside frost-free climates the pot is the only sensible choice: a deep pot with a humus-rich, free-draining mix kept slightly moist, a position in shade or bright indirect light, and a frost-free winter in a heated glasshouse, a conservatory or a bright room without direct sun.

In cultivation in the UK, US and Australia

BGCI PlantSearch lists 37 gardens declaring the species (checked on 31 October 2026); an entry shows that the plant has been declared at some point, not that it grows there today.

  • United Kingdom: only the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh declares it; no outdoor cultivation is documented in Britain.
  • United States: 11 gardens declare it to BGCI, among them Montgomery Botanical Center (Coral Gables, Florida), whose online catalogue lists four accessions, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, the Huntington, San Diego Botanic Garden, the San Diego Zoo, the University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley, Atlanta Botanical Garden and three gardens in Hawaii. At Berkeley, where most cycads grow outdoors, Bowenia need a glasshouse (Plant Collections Network profile, 2015). A short note in the Cycad Newsletter was devoted to growing the species in central Texas (Nazor, 2004).
  • Australia: 12 gardens declare it, among them the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney and the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan, which list it in their online Garden Explorers, the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, whose census placed it in outdoor beds at Melbourne in October 2026, the Australian National Botanic Gardens, Cairns, Adelaide, Kings Park (Perth), James Cook University (Townsville) and the regional gardens of Bundaberg, Mackay, Noosa and the Hunter.

Propagation

Propagation is mainly from seed, pressed halfway into the mix according to PACSOA, after removing the fleshy coat with gloves. Plants are male or female: both sexes and hand-pollination are needed to obtain fertile seed in cultivation, since the pollinating weevil is absent outside its range. Large plants, whose stem carries many crowns, can also be divided into several smaller plants (PACSOA). No germination time specific to the species has been published.

Pests and diseases

In his Brisbane garden, Leonard Butt found that a dark, hard-shelled scale insect was the only trouble. Diluted agricultural oil eradicates it, but he found it better to watch for the ants that tend the scale insects and to treat these with pyrethrum. As with all cycads, cold, waterlogged soil causes rot of the underground stem, and strong direct sun scorches the foliage. No disease specific to the species is documented.

Cold hardiness

No measured cold-hardiness value has been published for Bowenia serrulata, either by a garden or by a grower. The seed nursery Rare Palm Seeds rates its frost tolerance as “light”, without giving temperatures: it is a commercial rating, not a trial.

Mediterranean and European experience

No trial in the open ground has been reported in Europe. On the French Fous de palmiers forum the species only appears in group seed purchases, and on the Italian forum Tropicamente it does not appear at all. At the Jardin zoologique tropical in La Londe-les-Maures (Var, south-eastern France), the genus is represented by the ‘Tinaroo’ form of Bowenia spectabilis, grown in a pot: in comparable Mediterranean climates, such as coastal California or southern Australia, pot culture with frost-free overwintering is the only documented approach.

United Kingdom, United States and Australia

No dated cold report for the species has been published on the English-language forums that can be read. No outdoor cultivation is documented in Britain, and at Berkeley, where most cycads grow outdoors, the genus is kept under glass. In Australia the species is grown outdoors in Brisbane (Butt), and the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria census placed plants in outdoor beds in Melbourne, but no source gives the temperatures they have withstood.

Toxicity and precautions

Yes, Bowenia serrulata is poisonous. Like other cycads, Bowenia contain toxic glycosides (cycasin, macrozamin), from which methylazoxymethanol is derived. In a feeding trial, a steer fed the leaves of Bowenia serrulata developed degenerative lesions of the nerve fibres of the spinal cord, like another fed Macrozamia lucida (Hall and McGavin, 1968), and a chapter by Seawright and colleagues (1998) is devoted to its toxicity to cattle. McKenzie (2006) describes the resulting syndrome in cattle, known in Australia as “zamia staggers”: a stiff, goose-stepping gait of the hind legs, knuckling of the hind fetlocks, wasting of the hindquarters and finally paralysis; it is irreversible, and there is no treatment. The Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants key, after Everist (1974), also states that the foliage is poisonous to sheep. According to analyses by Ladd and colleagues (1993), cited by Asmussen (2011), the mature kernels of Bowenia contain 4.83 to 5.04% macrozamin by fresh weight, the highest value measured in any cycad.

Wear gloves to clean the seeds, keep plants and seeds out of reach of children, dogs and livestock, and contact a poison centre, a doctor or a vet without delay in case of ingestion.

Traditional uses

The best-documented use is decorative: the fronds, which stay fresh for a long time even out of water, were used by butchers and florists (Butt), and the Flora of Australia describes the species as popular ornamental foliage in the florist trade. Wilson’s thesis (2004) was partly motivated by interest in harvesting the leaves for the Australian and international cut-flower markets. Asmussen’s (2011) review of the Aboriginal use of cycads records food use only for the other species, Bowenia spectabilis, whose underground stem was eaten after cooking; no use of Bowenia serrulata is recorded there, although its seeds contain 81.2% carbohydrate (Miller and colleagues, 1993, cited by Asmussen).

Frequently asked questions

Is Bowenia serrulata a fern?

No. It is a cycad, a seed plant that reproduces by cones, not spores. Its twice-divided fronds and underground stem give it the look of a fern, hence its English names “Byfield fern” and “butcher’s fern”.

How do I tell it from Bowenia spectabilis?

Mostly by the leaflets and the origin. Bowenia serrulata has regularly toothed leaflets, a large rounded stem with many crowns and comes from the Byfield area; Bowenia spectabilis usually has entire leaflets, fewer crowns and comes from north-eastern Queensland. Toothed forms of Bowenia spectabilis, such as ‘Tinaroo’, remain Bowenia spectabilis.

Why is it called butcher’s fern?

Because of its old use. Its long-lasting fronds lined the back walls of butchers’ shops and served as backing for cut flowers and wreaths, according to the Queensland naturalist Leonard Butt.

Can it be grown indoors?

Yes. It is described as an attractive indoor pot plant. Give it bright light without direct sun, a moist but free-draining, humus-rich mix and a humid atmosphere, and watch for scale insects.

Is it frost hardy?

Only slightly, as far as is known. The only rating available is commercial (“light” frost tolerance), and no trial with temperatures has been published. Outside frost-free climates, grow it in a pot and keep it frost-free in winter.

Is it endangered?

No. The IUCN lists it as Least Concern (assessment published in 2022) and Queensland as “special least concern”, but its range is small, and international trade in plants requires CITES permits.

Is it poisonous?

Yes. Its leaves have caused an irreversible nervous disorder in cattle, and the seeds of Bowenia are among the richest of all cycads in toxic glycosides. Keep it away from children, pets and livestock.

Further reading on Succulentes

Sources

Reference sites

Bibliography

  • Bull, W. (1878). A Retail List of New, Beautiful and Rare Plants 143: 4, t. 5. London. [Publication of Bowenia spectabilis var. serrulata, basionym; reference after The World List of Cycads and the Australian Plant Census.]
  • Bailey, F.M. (1883). A Synopsis of the Queensland Flora: 501. Brisbane. [Bowenia spectabilis var. serrata, a synonym.]
  • Chamberlain, C.J. (1912). Two species of Bowenia. Botanical Gazette 54(5): 419–423. doi:10.1086/330933 [New combination Bowenia serrulata; field observations at Babinda and around Byfield; stems of both species.]
  • Hall, W.T.K. & McGavin, M.D. (1968). Clinical and neuropathological changes in cattle eating the leaves of Macrozamia lucida or Bowenia serrulata (family Zamiaceae). Pathologia Veterinaria 5: 26–34. doi:10.1177/030098586800500103 [Feeding trial; spinal cord lesions.]
  • Everist, S.L. (1974). Poisonous Plants of Australia. Angus & Robertson, Sydney. [Toxicity to sheep and cattle, after the Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants key.]
  • Hill, K.D. (1998). Cycadophyta. In: McCarthy, P.M. (ed.), Flora of Australia 48: 597–661. ABRS/CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne. [Description, range, habitat; online version of the flora.]
  • Seawright, A.A., Oelrichs, P.B., Ng, J.C., Sani, Y. & Nolan, C.C. (1998). The toxicity of the Australian cycad Bowenia serrulata to cattle. In: Garland, T. & Barr, A.C. (eds), Toxic Plants and Other Natural Toxicants: 447–452. CAB International, Wallingford. [Reference after McKenzie (2006).]
  • Kokubugata, G., Kondo, K., Wilson, G.W., Randall, L.M., van der Schans, A. & Morris, D.K. (2000). Comparison of karyotype and rDNA-distribution in somatic chromosomes of Bowenia species (Stangeriaceae, Cycadales). Australian Systematic Botany 13(1): 15–20. doi:10.1071/SB98028 [Chromosome number and karyotypes; peer-reviewed article.]
  • Wilson, G.W. (2002). Insect pollination in the cycad genus Bowenia Hook. ex Hook. f. (Stangeriaceae). Biotropica 34(3): 438–441. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7429.2002.tb00557.x [Obligate pollination by Miltotranes weevils; peer-reviewed article.]
  • Wilson, G.W. (2004). The biology and systematics of Bowenia Hook ex. Hook f. (Stangeriaceae: Bowenioideae). Master’s thesis (research), James Cook University: https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/1270/ [Two species confirmed, Burdekin Gap, reproduction, insect associations, cut-flower harvesting.]
  • Nazor, C. (2004). Growing Bowenia serrulata in Central Texas. Cycad Newsletter 27(4): 13. [Reference after The World List of Cycads.]
  • McKenzie, R.A. (2006). Toxicology for Australian Veterinarians: cycads, pp. 282–288. Animal Health Australia (PDF): https://aapspextranet.animalhealthaustralia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/tav7_17_unknowntoxins_pt2.pdf [Australian veterinary reference; zamia staggers, irreversible, no treatment.]
  • Asmussen, B. (2011). “There is likewise a nut…” a comparative ethnobotany of Aboriginal processing methods and consumption of Australian Bowenia, Cycas, Macrozamia and Lepidozamia species. Technical Reports of the Australian Museum, Online 23(10): 147–163. doi:10.3853/j.1835-4211.23.2011.1575 [Aboriginal uses of Bowenia; macrozamin content of the kernels after Ladd et al. (1993).]
  • Bösenberg, J.D. (2022). Bowenia serrulata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022: e.T41979A2959179. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T41979A2959179.en [Least Concern; assessment dated 16 October 2020.]
  • Haynes, J.L. (2022). Etymological compendium of cycad names. Phytotaxa 550(1): 1–31. [Etymology of the epithet, after The World List of Cycads.]
  • Hsiao, Y. & Oberprieler, R.G. (2022). Taxonomic revision of the genus Miltotranes Zimmerman, 1994 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Molytinae), the Bowenia-pollinating cycad weevils in Australia, with description of a new species and implications for the systematics of Bowenia. Insects 13(5): 456. doi:10.3390/insects13050456 [Range, pollinator Miltotranes subopacus, species limits; peer-reviewed article, open access.]
  • 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 list.]