Cycas lindstromii

Cycas lindstromii is a small cycad with an underground trunk from southern Vietnam, recorded in the coastal provinces from Khanh Hoa to Ba Ria-Vung Tau, where it grows in sandy grassland and open woodland at low altitude. This member of the genus Cycas was described in 1997 from plants collected near the coast, at 25 m above sea level, in Binh Thuan province. It is named after Anders Lindström, curator of cycads at Nong Nooch Tropical Garden in Thailand, who took part in its discovery. It has also been published as Epicycas lindstromii, in a genus that current classifications do not recognise. The IUCN lists it as Endangered, in an assessment published in 2022.

Key facts about Cycas lindstromii

  • Accepted name: Cycas lindstromii S.L.Yang, K.D.Hill & T.H.Nguyên (1997), accepted by The World List of Cycads (version 2026.08.15); the World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP), on which POWO is based, also accepts it (consulted through GBIF on 31 October 2026)
  • Former names and synonyms: Epicycas lindstromii (S.L.Yang, K.D.Hill & T.H.Nguyên) de Laub. (1998)
  • Family: Cycadaceae, order Cycadales
  • Common names: no English name attested; no Vietnamese name verified
  • Natural range: southern Vietnam (Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Ba Ria-Vung Tau)
  • IUCN status: Endangered (EN, criteria A2acd+4acd; B1ab(iii,v)), assessment by J. D. Bösenberg and T. H. Nguyen published in 2022
  • CITES and other protection: CITES Appendix II (listing of the whole family); Annex B in the European Union
  • Documented hardiness: no data (see Cold hardiness)
  • Light and soil: in the wild, sandy grassland and open woodland at low altitude (de Laubenfels and Adema 1998); type locality near the coast at 25 m
  • Habit and adult size: no aerial trunk; underground, bulb-like stem base, often branched, 13 to 25 cm across; leaves 50 to 78 cm long (de Laubenfels and Adema 1998)
  • In the UK, US and Australia: Missouri Botanical Garden (Climatron glasshouse, accession of 2022), Montgomery Botanical Center (two accessions of 2016) and the University of Minnesota conservatory (BGCI); no British or Australian record
  • Toxicity: not studied for the species; all parts of Cycas are poisonous (see Toxicity and precautions)

How to recognise Cycas lindstromii

The full text of the protologue could not be consulted; the description below follows the revision by de Laubenfels and Adema (1998).

  • Stem base: an underground bulb, often branched, 13 to 25 cm in diameter; no aerial trunk.
  • Leaves: sometimes few per crown, 50 to 78 cm long, with 18 to 60 leaflets on each side; petiole 6 to 15 cm, spiny at least to halfway.
  • Leaflets: 10 to 13 cm by 7 to 10 mm, shorter towards the leaf tip, with flat margins and a raised midrib, dark green above and paler beneath.
  • Male cones: cylindrical, 16 to 20 cm by 4 to 5 cm, on a stalk about 3 cm long; microsporophylls 11 to 15 mm wide, with a triangular sterile tip about 6 mm long ending in a clearly upturned spine of 2 to 8 mm.
  • Megasporophylls: two ovules; sterile part oval, about 60 mm by 20 mm, with 6 to 13 teeth on each side, 8 to 12 mm long, and a point about 30 mm long with a few reduced teeth at its base.
  • Seeds: orange-red, 31 to 35 mm by 20 to 30 mm.

For de Laubenfels and Adema, the species differs from Cycas siamensis (which they call Epicycas siamensis) in its branched bulbs that never form an aerial trunk, its narrower megasporophylls and its shorter leaves.

The Missouri Botanical Garden published in 2025 a photograph of a male plant in its Climatron glasshouse, carrying a cone, and describes the species as a “diminutive cycad” (Deloso and colleagues 2025).

Hybrids

No hybrid of Cycas lindstromii is known. The species is mentioned only once on the French forum Fous de palmiers, in 2013, in a discussion about possible crosses, with no plant reported.

Possible confusion

The most likely confusion is with Cycas siamensis; the underground trunk of Cycas lindstromii separates the two in adult plants. Two other cycads grow in the same region: Cycas elongata, a tree-like species, and Cycas pachypoda, with a strongly swollen trunk base. Nor should it be confused with Cycas condaoensis, confined to the Côn Đảo archipelago off the same coast.

Taxonomy

Cycas lindstromii is accepted by The World List of Cycads; the World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP), on which POWO is based, also accepts it (consulted through GBIF on 31 October 2026). The species was described by S. L. Yang, Ken Hill and Nguyên Tiên Hiêp in “Cycas lindstromii (Cycadaceae), a new species from Southern Vietnam”, published in Novon 7(2): 213–215 (1997). The type was collected on 11 November 1994 by Yang (number 557) at Xa Chi Cong, near Doc Bao Da, in Tuy Phong district (Binh Thuan province), at 25 m above sea level; the holotype is kept at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (FTG) in Florida, with isotypes in Sydney (NSW) and, according to de Laubenfels and Adema (1998), in Stockholm (S).

In 1998, de Laubenfels and Adema moved the species to a new genus, Epicycas, created for several Asian Cycas with a bulb-like, underground stem base, flat leaflets and slender cylindrical male cones; according to these authors, the two genera did not otherwise differ. The World List of Cycads treats Epicycas as a synonym of Cycas. The reasons for this rejection could not be checked. A label “Epicycas lindstromii” therefore refers to this species.

Etymology and history

The epithet honours Anders Lindström, from Stockholm (Sweden), curator of cycads at Nong Nooch Tropical Garden, near Pattaya (Chonburi province, Thailand), who took part in the discovery of the species (Haynes 2022, as cited by The World List of Cycads). An article by William Tang devoted to the species appeared in 2003 in the journal Encephalartos. No information is documented on the introduction of the species into cultivation.

Common names

No English common name is attested. No Vietnamese name specific to the species could be verified.

In the wild

Cycas lindstromii is endemic to southern Vietnam: The World List of Cycads records it in the provinces of Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan and Ba Ria-Vung Tau. De Laubenfels and Adema (1998) describe its habitat as sandy grassland and open woodland at low altitude; the type locality lies near the coast, at 25 m. Soils, associated vegetation, pollinators and seed dispersers are not documented.

Conservation status and regulation

Cycas lindstromii is listed as Endangered (EN, criteria A2acd+4acd; B1ab(iii,v)) on the IUCN Red List, in the assessment by J. D. Bösenberg and T. H. Nguyen published in 2022, cited by The World List of Cycads; the EN category is confirmed by the IUCN data relayed by GBIF (consulted on 21 October 2026). These criteria reflect a population decline and a restricted range, with a deteriorating habitat and a falling number of adults. An earlier assessment by H. T. Nguyen, published in 2010, is recorded by Crossref; its category could not be checked. The threats are not detailed in the sources cited here.

Like all members of the family Cycadaceae, Cycas lindstromii is listed in CITES Appendix II; Species+, the official CITES and EU database, records it as a family-level listing with annotation #4 (CoP20 version, in force since 5 March 2026). This annotation exempts, among other things, seeds, pollen, and seedlings or tissue cultures obtained in vitro in sterile containers; living plants remain subject to permits. In the European Union the species is listed in Annex B of Regulation (EC) No 338/97, in the version set by Commission Regulation (EU) 2026/1383 of 22 June 2026. Check the regulations in force before any purchase, import or sale, and ask for proof that the plant was raised in cultivation. This information does not replace the official texts.

Growing Cycas lindstromii

No growing data for the species have been published beyond the short remark of the Missouri Botanical Garden, which considers this small cycad “excellent for pot culture” (Deloso and colleagues 2025). Its natural habitat, sandy grassland at low altitude, suggests that a very free-draining substrate suits it, but nothing is documented for the cultivated plant.

Outdoor and in-ground cultivation

No in-ground cultivation is documented outside its native range. The Montgomery Botanical Center grows its cycads outdoors in southern Florida, but no observation on this species has been published. With no data at all on its tolerance of cold, the only prudent course is to plant it out only in frost-free climates; this is a precaution, not a measured limit.

Container cultivation

Its small size, with leaves under 80 cm and no aerial trunk, makes it a natural candidate for a pot, as the Missouri Botanical Garden notes. In the United Kingdom, northern Europe and the colder parts of the United States and Australia, it is a plant for a glasshouse or conservatory kept frost-free in winter, in a mineral mix that drains quickly; the substrate is a deduction from its sandy habitat, not from a published trial.

In cultivation in the UK, US and Australia

The species is rare in collections: in 2025 the Missouri Botanical Garden wrote that it was then held ex situ in only three botanic gardens, according to BGCI data for 2023.

  • Missouri Botanical Garden (St Louis, Missouri): accession 2022-0050, grown in the Climatron, the garden’s domed tropical glasshouse; a male plant with a cone is shown in the 2025 article on the garden’s cycad collection (Deloso and colleagues 2025).
  • Montgomery Botanical Center (Coral Gables, Florida), where cycads are grown outdoors: two accessions whose numbers date them to 2016.
  • University of Minnesota: the College of Biological Sciences Conservatory & Botanical Collection declares the species in BGCI PlantSearch (an undated listing, which does not prove that the plant is alive today).
  • United Kingdom and Australia: no garden declares Cycas lindstromii in BGCI PlantSearch, and it does not appear in the online garden catalogues.

No growing report from an English-language forum is documented. The Jardin zoologique tropical at La Londe-les-Maures, in the south of France, has published no observation on this species.

Propagation

Propagation is from seed, as for other Cycas; no data specific to the species have been published. A male and a female plant are needed to obtain fertile seed. Seeds are exempt from CITES under annotation #4; ask for seed from cultivated plants.

Pests and diseases

No data specific to Cycas lindstromii have been published. Like all Cycas, it is exposed to the Asian cycad scale, Aulacaspis yasumatsui, and to rot in a waterlogged substrate.

Cold hardiness

No cold-hardiness value has been published for Cycas lindstromii, and no growing report gives a winter temperature. The species grows near sea level on a tropical coast, which suggests little tolerance of frost, but this is a deduction from its range, not an observation. Until data exist, keep it frost-free: in a glasshouse or conservatory in the United Kingdom and most of the United States, and outdoors only in climates where frost does not occur.

Toxicity and precautions

No toxicity data specific to Cycas lindstromii have been published, but the risk is documented for the genus: in Cycas, all parts of the plant are poisonous and the seeds most of all. They contain cycasin, which is converted in the body into methylazoxymethanol, toxic to the liver and nervous system, along with a neurotoxic amino acid, BMAA (NC State Extension; ASPCA). In dogs, cats and horses, the ASPCA reports vomiting, diarrhoea that may contain blood, jaundice, liver damage and fatal cases; the Pet Poison Helpline adds neurological signs.

Wear gloves to handle seeds and their fleshy coat, pick up any that fall, and keep plants and seeds out of reach of children and pets. If any part is swallowed, contact a poison centre, a doctor or a vet straight away.

Traditional uses

No traditional use specific to Cycas lindstromii has been documented.

Frequently asked questions

Does Cycas lindstromii have a trunk?

Yes, but it is underground. It is one of the three characters that separate it from Cycas siamensis according to de Laubenfels and Adema (1998).

Who was it named after?

Anders Lindström, from Stockholm, curator of cycads at Nong Nooch Tropical Garden in Thailand, who took part in the discovery of the species.

Where does it grow?

Only in southern Vietnam, in four coastal provinces from Khanh Hoa to Ba Ria-Vung Tau, in sandy grassland and open woodland at low altitude.

Is it endangered?

Yes. The IUCN lists it as Endangered, in an assessment published in 2022.

Can I see it in a public garden?

Rarely. In the United States it is grown at the Missouri Botanical Garden, in the Climatron glasshouse, and at the Montgomery Botanical Center in Florida; no British or Australian garden declares it.

Is it hardy?

Nobody knows. No data exist; to be safe, grow it frost-free.

Is it poisonous?

Yes, very probably. It has not been studied, but all parts of Cycas are poisonous, the seeds most of all.

Further reading on Succulentes

Sources

Reference sites

Bibliography

  • Yang, S.L., Hill, K.D. & Nguyên, T.H. (1997). Cycas lindstromii (Cycadaceae), a new species from Southern Vietnam. Novon 7(2): 213–215. doi:10.2307/3392199 [Protologue; reference checked on Crossref.]
  • Laubenfels, D.J. de & Adema, F. (1998). A taxonomic revision of the genera Cycas and Epicycas gen. nov. (Cycadaceae). Blumea 43(2): 351–400. [Combination Epicycas lindstromii, description (p. 395), habitat, characters of Epicycas (p. 353); very broad species concepts.]
  • Tang, W. (2003). Focus on Cycas lindstromii. Encephalartos 76: 8–12. [Specialist society journal; reference taken from The World List of Cycads.]
  • Hill, K.D., Nguyen, H.T. & Loc, P.K. (2004). The genus Cycas (Cycadaceae) in Vietnam. The Botanical Review 70(2): 134–193. doi:10.1663/0006-8101(2004)070[0134:TGCCIV]2.0.CO;2 [Description, pages 179–180; reference taken from The World List of Cycads and Crossref.]
  • Nguyen, H.T. (2010). Cycas lindstromii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: e.T42056A10640470. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T42056A10640470.en [Previous assessment; reference checked on Crossref.]
  • Bösenberg, J.D. & Nguyen, T.H. (2022). Cycas lindstromii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022: e.T42056A68903491. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T42056A68903491.en [Current assessment, EN; reference checked on Crossref, category confirmed by GBIF.]
  • Deloso, B.E., Colligan, A., Sucher, R. & Ramirez, V. (2025). Missouri Botanical Garden’s cycad collection: a journey through time. Plant Species Biology. doi:10.1111/1442-1984.12509 [Accession 2022-0050 in the Climatron, photograph of a male plant, “excellent for pot culture”, three gardens holding the species ex situ (BGCI 2023).]
  • Haynes, J.L. (2022). Etymological compendium of cycad names. Phytotaxa 550(1): 1–31. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.550.1.1 [Etymology of the epithet; cited by The World List of Cycads.]
  • 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.]