Cycas micholitzii: forked leaflets from Vietnam and Laos

Cycas micholitzii is a cycad with no visible trunk from the central highlands of Vietnam (Kon Tum, Gia Lai and Dak Lak provinces) and southern Laos (Champasak and Saravan), easily picked out by its leaflets, which fork two or three times. Described in 1905 by William Thiselton-Dyer and named after the plant collector Wilhelm Micholitz, this member of the genus Cycas is the type species of section Stangerioides. For a long time the name was also applied to plants from Guangxi, now placed in Cycas bifida, and the species was at times moved into the genera Epicycas and Dyerocycas. The IUCN lists it as Vulnerable (2022).

Key facts about Cycas micholitzii

Accepted name: Cycas micholitzii Dyer (1905), 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: Dyerocycas micholitzii (Dyer) Nakai (1943), Epicycas micholitzii (Dyer) de Laub. (1998); the name was formerly applied to the plants of Guangxi (now Cycas bifida) and to a Thai variety (now Cycas simplicipinna)
Family: Cycadaceae, order Cycadales; type species of section Stangerioides
Common names: no English common name attested beyond a nursery trade name (see Common names)
Natural range: Vietnam (Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak) and Laos (Champasak, Saravan)
IUCN status: Vulnerable (VU A2cd+4cd), assessment by J. D. Bösenberg published in 2022
CITES and other protection: CITES Appendix II (seeds exempt under annotation #4); Annex B in the European Union
Documented hardiness: no measured value; at the University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley it needs greenhouse care (see Cold hardiness)
Light and soil: habitat of the species in the strict sense not described; no published growing data
Habit and adult size: underground stem; smaller than Cycas bifida (Hill 2008); detailed measurements not consulted (see How to recognise)
In the UK, US and Australia: Montgomery Botanical Center (1998 and 2013), Fairchild (2020 and 2022) and UC Berkeley (under glass) in the United States; listed by Edinburgh and the National Botanic Garden of Wales in the UK and by Cairns in Australia (BGCI)
Toxicity: no analysis specific to the species; treat it as poisonous, like all Cycas (see Toxicity and precautions)

How to recognise Cycas micholitzii

The first thing to look for is the leaflets: in Cycas micholitzii they fork two or three times, a rare feature in the genus, and they come with soft male cones whose scales (microsporophylls) end in a short point, which led Smitinand (1971) to compare the plant with the African genus Stangeria. Like the other members of section Stangerioides, it has an underground stem, soft male cones, hairless ovules, megasporophylls with a comb-like blade, and yellow seeds whose loose fleshy coat (sarcotesta) lacks a fibrous layer and covers a warty shell (Hill 2008).

The detailed description of the species in the strict sense is in the revision of the Cycas of Vietnam by Hill, Nguyen and Loc (2004, pages 160–161), which could not be consulted. Hill (2008), however, sets out how it differs from its closest relative, Cycas bifida: Cycas micholitzii is a smaller plant, its leaflets are shorter, narrower, stiffer and less glossy, and its male cones are smaller. Since Hill describes the microsporophylls of Cycas bifida as “mostly without a spine”, those of Cycas micholitzii presumably carry one more often; the comparison implies this without putting a figure on it.

The only measured description consulted, that of de Laubenfels and Adema (1998), covers a broad concept of the species that includes Cycas bifida, so it is no more than a guide: a bulb-like base, underground or slightly raised, about 30 cm across; few leaves, 190 to 300 cm long; a petiole of 60 to 130 cm, spiny along its whole length; 10 to 26 leaflets on each side, forking two or three times into segments 20 to 30 cm long and 2 to 2.5 cm wide; a male cone up to about 40 cm by 6 cm; megasporophylls with 1 to 4 ovules; and yellow seeds at least 20 mm by 18 mm.

Hybrids

No natural hybrid of Cycas micholitzii is documented. Hybrids do circulate in cultivation: on the French forum Fous de palmiers, growers mention in 2012 and 2013 seedlings of Cycas revoluta × Cycas micholitzii and of a cross between this hybrid and Cycas tropophylla, all very slow-growing. BGCI PlantSearch also lists a Cycas revoluta × micholitzii at Houston Botanic Garden, in Texas. These plants tell us nothing about the pure species.

Possible confusion

Cycas bifida, from southern Guangxi and north-eastern Vietnam, long went under the name Cycas micholitzii, notably in the Flora of China (Chen and Stevenson 1999). It is larger, with longer, broader, softer and glossier leaflets, and bigger male cones whose microsporophylls are mostly without a spine (Hill 2008).
Cycas multipinnata and Cycas debaoensis have leaflets that are themselves divided in a feather-like (pinnate) way, not simply forked (key in Hill 2008). Cycas multipinnata also has far longer leaves, 2 to 7 m according to Hill (2008) and the Flora of China, and grows in Yunnan and northern Vietnam.
Cycas simplicipinna, from Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and China, was described by Smitinand (1971) as a variety of Cycas micholitzii (Cycas micholitzii var. simplicipinna), but its leaflets are undivided.
It follows from this history that plants or seeds sold as Cycas micholitzii may in fact be Cycas bifida or hybrids; only a documented origin in central Vietnam or southern Laos guarantees the species in the strict sense. This is a deduction, not a published finding.

Taxonomy

Cycas micholitzii 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). It is the type species of section Stangerioides, created by Smitinand in 1971. Schuster (1932) had placed it, with Cycas siamensis, in section Indosinenses; Smitinand took it out of that group, and Hill (2008) follows him, defining the section by its soft male cones, comb-like megasporophylls, hairless ovules and yellow seeds with a warty shell.

The name has moved between genera more than once. Nakai placed it in a genus Dyerocycas in 1943, and de Laubenfels (de Laubenfels and Adema 1998) made it the type of a genus Epicycas, defined by a swollen underground base, in which he also included Cycas rumphii var. bifida. Neither genus has been retained. In their revision of the Cycas of Vietnam, Hill, Nguyen and Loc (2004) restricted Cycas micholitzii to the plants of central Vietnam and Laos, and raised the plants of Guangxi and northern Vietnam to species rank as Cycas bifida. In practice, this means that literature published before 2004, the Flora of China included, may use Cycas micholitzii for what is now Cycas bifida.

The restriction of the name to the Vietnamese plants is the work of Hill, Nguyen and Loc (2004).

Etymology and history

The epithet honours Wilhelm Micholitz (1854–1932), who discovered the species while collecting plants for Sander and Sons, an English nursery of the early twentieth century that was the first to bring it into cultivation (The World List of Cycads, after Haynes 2022). According to Hill (2008), Thiselton-Dyer received material from Sander and Sons in 1905, apparently collected by Micholitz in Annam (central Vietnam), and at about the same time material sent by Henry Ridley of the Singapore Botanic Gardens. He described the species the same year in the Gardeners’ Chronicle (series 3, 38: 142–144, figs 48–49), noting its resemblance to Cycas rumphii var. bifida, which he had described in 1902, without uniting the two. The type is kept at Kew; de Laubenfels and Adema (1998) describe it as a Micholitz collection grown at Kew and cite a plate of the species in the Botanical Magazine of 1909.

According to the published sources, the material reached Thiselton-Dyer through Sander and Sons and came from Annam.

Common names

No traditional English name is attested. The British nursery Trebrown lists the species as “Micholitz’s sago”, a trade name. Species+, the CITES database, gives a Chinese name, chaye sutie; this is the name Hill (2008) gives for Cycas bifida (cha-ye su-tie, “fork-leaved cycad”), probably a legacy of the old, broad concept of Cycas micholitzii, since the species in the strict sense does not grow in China.

In the wild

The World List of Cycads limits the species to the Vietnamese provinces of Kon Tum, Gia Lai and Dak Lak, on the central highlands, and to the Laotian provinces of Champasak and Saravan, in the south of the country. The habitat of the species in the strict sense is not described; de Laubenfels and Adema (1998), for their broad concept, mention only scattered plants in moist forest.

Conservation status and regulation

The IUCN lists Cycas micholitzii as Vulnerable (VU A2cd+4cd), in the assessment by J. D. Bösenberg published in 2022 and carried out in November 2020 (category confirmed by GBIF, consulted on 21 October 2026); an earlier assessment, by Nguyen Tien Hiep, dates from 2010. Criteria A2cd and A4cd indicate a past and projected decline of the population, linked to loss of habitat and to exploitation; the detail of the threats could not be read.

Like every species of the genus except Cycas beddomei, which is in Appendix I, Cycas micholitzii falls under CITES Appendix II, where the family Cycadaceae has been listed since 4 February 1977. The listing carries annotation #4 (CoP20 version, in force since 5 March 2026): seeds, pollen, seedlings and tissue cultures obtained in vitro and transported in sterile containers, and cut flowers of artificially propagated plants, are not covered by CITES, whereas international trade in plants requires an export permit. In the European Union the species falls under Annex B of Regulation (EC) No 338/97, whose annexes in force are set by Regulation (EU) 2026/1383, applicable since 29 June 2026. Species+ confirms this status and gives Laos and Vietnam as range countries (consulted on 19 October 2026).

This general information does not replace the official texts: check the regulations in force before any purchase or exchange, ask the seller for proof of origin and prefer plants raised from seed in cultivation.

Growing Cycas micholitzii

Cycas micholitzii is a rare collector’s plant: no institution has published growing advice specific to the species, and no reliable growing report on the pure species has been published. The one useful clue comes from the University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley, which counts it among the cycads “not fully hardy” in the San Francisco Bay Area and keeps it in a greenhouse (Plant Collections Network, 2015).

Outdoor and in-ground cultivation

No in-ground cultivation is documented. Montgomery Botanical Center and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, in southern Florida, hold the species, but neither has published an observation on how it performs there. Its range, on tropical plateaus in central Vietnam and southern Laos, and the Berkeley experience suggest planting it out only in frost-free, warm climates; this is a deduction, not the result of a trial.

Container cultivation

In the United Kingdom, most of the United States and southern Australia, Cycas micholitzii is a plant for a heated glasshouse or conservatory, grown in a pot in a very free-draining mix.

In cultivation in the UK, US and Australia

The species is present in a few American collections and listed by two British gardens and one Australian garden. A garden listed in the BGCI PlantSearch database (consulted in October 2026) has declared the species at some point, which does not prove that a living plant is there today.

United States: the online catalogue of Montgomery Botanical Center (Coral Gables, Florida) lists two accessions, which their numbers date to 1998 and 2013. The Garden Explorer of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (also Coral Gables; updated on 16 October 2026) lists accessions 2020-0179 and 2022-0255. The University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley keeps it under glass (Plant Collections Network, 2015). BGCI PlantSearch adds about fifteen other gardens, among them The Huntington, San Diego Botanic Garden, Naples Botanical Garden, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Missouri Botanical Garden, Longwood Gardens, the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Hawaii and the University of Minnesota conservatory.
United Kingdom: the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the National Botanic Garden of Wales list the species in BGCI PlantSearch; no growing result has been published.
Australia: Cairns Botanic Gardens lists it in BGCI PlantSearch.

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

Propagation

Like all Cycas, Cycas micholitzii is dioecious: a male and a female plant are needed to obtain fertile seed. No germination data specific to the species have been documented. Seeds are exempt from CITES under annotation #4; check their origin, since seed sold under this name may be Cycas bifida or hybrid (see Possible confusion).

Pests and diseases

No pest or disease specific to the species is documented. Scale insects, including the Asian cycad scale Aulacaspis yasumatsui, threaten all cultivated Cycas, but no attack on this species in particular has been reported. As with any cycad, a waterlogged substrate leads to rot.

Cold hardiness

There are no cold-tolerance data for Cycas micholitzii. The University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley, where many cycads grow outdoors, describes it as not fully hardy in the San Francisco Bay Area and keeps it under glass, without giving a temperature. The British nursery Trebrown rates it USDA zone 9b, that is average annual minima of −3.9 to −1.1 °C (25 to 30 °F); this is a commercial rating, which the nursery applies to many Cycas, and is not backed by growing observations.

No dated cold report is documented on growers’ forums or in botanic gardens. In the United Kingdom and in most of the United States and Australia outside the tropics, keep it frost-free under glass.

Toxicity and precautions

No toxicity data specific to Cycas micholitzii 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.

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 is documented for this species.

Frequently asked questions

Where does the name micholitzii come from?

From the plant collector Wilhelm Micholitz (1854–1932), who discovered the species while collecting for the English nursery Sander and Sons, which brought it into cultivation.

Where does Cycas micholitzii grow?

Only on the central highlands of Vietnam (Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak) and in southern Laos (Champasak, Saravan), according to The World List of Cycads. It does not grow in China: the Chinese plants once given this name are Cycas bifida.

How can it be told from Cycas bifida?

By its smaller size, shorter, narrower, stiffer and less glossy leaflets, and smaller male cones (Hill 2008). Both have forked leaflets and long shared the same name, so the origin of the plant matters as much as its appearance.

Are its leaflets always divided?

In the typical species, yes: they fork two or three times (Smitinand 1971). The Thai form with undivided leaflets, described as a variety of Cycas micholitzii, is now a separate species, Cycas simplicipinna.

Is it endangered?

Yes. The IUCN lists it as Vulnerable (2022), because of a past and projected decline of its populations.

Is it hardy?

No evidence says so. There are no cold data for this species from tropical plateaus, and UC Berkeley keeps it in a greenhouse; grow it frost-free.

Is it poisonous?

It should be assumed to be. It has not been analysed, but all Cycas studied contain serious toxins, especially in the seeds.

Sources

Reference sites

The World List of Cycads (version 2026.08.15), Cycas micholitzii: https://cycadlist.org/scientific_name/163 — protologue, etymology after Haynes (2022), type, synonyms, range by province, IUCN status (VU A2cd+4cd), references (Hill et al. 2004, pages 160–161). Checklist of the IUCN Cycad Specialist Group, reliable; consulted in October 2026.
GBIF, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (Cycas micholitzii): https://api.gbif.org/v1/species/206945335 — accepted name in the World Checklist of Vascular Plants (basis of POWO), published in Gard. Chron., ser. 3, 38: 142 (1905). Kew data distributed by GBIF, reliable; consulted on 31 October 2026.
Species+ (UNEP-WCMC), Cycas micholitzii: https://speciesplus.net/species#/taxon_concepts/28375/legal — CITES Appendix II, EU Annex B (Regulation (EU) 2026/1383), range countries, Chinese name. Official CITES and EU database, reliable; consulted on 19 October 2026.
GBIF (API), Cycas micholitzii: https://api.gbif.org/v1/species/2683299/iucnRedListCategory — current IUCN Red List category (VU). Reference data infrastructure; consulted on 21 October 2026.
Montgomery Botanical Center, living collection catalogue (BG-BASE “Montgomery – Cycads”): https://www.montgomerybotanical.org/research/living-collection/ — Cycas micholitzii, accessions 981686 and 20130608. Garden’s own catalogue, reliable for presence; consulted in October 2026.
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Garden Explorer, Cycas micholitzii: https://fairchild.gardenexplorer.org/taxon-6255.aspx — accessions 2020-0179 and 2022-0255 (update of 16 October 2026). Garden’s own catalogue, reliable for presence; consulted on 21 October 2026.
Plant Collections Network (American Public Gardens Association), “Cycad Multisite”, University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley (record dated 9 November 2015): https://www.publicgardens.org/napcc_collection/cycad-multisite/ — Cycas micholitzii and Cycas multipinnata “not fully hardy” in the Bay Area, kept under glass. Garden’s own account, reliable; consulted in October 2026.
BGCI PlantSearch: https://plantsearch.bgci.org/ — gardens declaring the species (2 in the United Kingdom, about 17 in the United States, 1 in Australia) and a Cycas revoluta × micholitzii at Houston. Global database of garden lists, undated per garden: a listing does not prove a living plant; consulted in October 2026.
Trebrown Nurseries, Cycas micholitzii: https://www.trebrown.com/plant_info.php?species=Cycas+micholitzii — trade name “Micholitz’s sago”, USDA zone 9b. Specialist nursery; commercial rating not backed by growing data; consulted on 21 October 2026.
Fous de palmiers forum (France): https://www.fousdepalmiers.fr/html/forum/ — mentions of Cycas revoluta × micholitzii hybrids (2012–2013), no report on the pure species. Growers’ forum, cited anonymously.
ASPCA Animal Poison Control, Sago Palm: https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/aspca-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants/sago-palm — toxicity of cycads to dogs, cats and horses, cycasin, symptoms. Veterinary poison control centre, reliable; genus-level information.
NC State Extension Plant Toolbox, Cycas revoluta: https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/cycas-revoluta/ — cycasin present in all parts of the plant. University extension service, reliable; genus-level information.

Bibliography

Thiselton-Dyer, W.T. (1905). Cycas micholitzii. Gardeners’ Chronicle, series 3, 38: 142–144, figs 48–49. [Protologue; reference taken from The World List of Cycads and Hill (2008).]
Smitinand, T. (1971). The genus Cycas Linn. (Cycadaceae) in Thailand. Natural History Bulletin of the Siam Society 24(1–2) (variety p. 164, section p. 168). [Creation of section Stangerioides (type Cycas micholitzii), leaflets forking two or three times, soft microsporophylls, variety simplicipinna.]
Laubenfels, D.J. de & Adema, F. (1998). A taxonomic revision of the genera Cycas and Epicycas gen. nov. (Cycadaceae). Blumea 43(2): 351–400. [Genus Epicycas, description of a broad concept including Cycas bifida, type.]
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 of the species in the strict sense (pages 160–161); reference checked on Crossref.]
Hill, K.D. (2008). The genus Cycas (Cycadaceae) in China. Telopea 12(1): 71–118. doi:10.7751/telopea20085804 [History of the name, differences from Cycas bifida, definition of section Stangerioides.]
Bösenberg, J.D. (2022). Cycas micholitzii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022: e.T42058A68905807. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T42058A68905807.en [Current assessment (VU A2cd+4cd), carried out on 19 November 2020 according to Crossref; category confirmed by GBIF.]
Nguyen, H.T. (2010). Cycas micholitzii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: e.T42058A10614855. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T42058A10614855.en [Previous assessment; reference checked on Crossref.]
Haynes, J.L. (2022). Etymological compendium of cycad names. Phytotaxa 550(1): 1–31. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.550.1.1 [Etymology; used through 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.]