Cycads belong to a very old order of plants, being descendants of species whose fossils have been found in rocks more than 150 million years old.  They have not changed their form and still look the same as they did when they flourished in the age of the dinosaurs.

These plants were among the first to reproduce above ground level.  The female tree’s egg-bearing cone is fertilised by a windblown spore from a mal tree.

Cycads are sometimes credited with living for as long as 500 years, but the exact age of living specimens is difficult to establish.