Hello everyone and welcome back to Plant of the Week! This week we will be taking a look at Cycas micholitzii, a cycad species native to Vietnam, bordering on Laos, where it can be found growing on steep limestone hills. Cycas micholitzii’s stem is subterranean, though with age and some other factors, the trunk may become visible but usually never extending beyond 16cm above ground. The crown will consist of 2 to 6 leaves that can grow up to 2.4 meters long. These leaves will remain erect with an arch for most of their life, with petioles reaching over a meter in length that are armed with two rows of spines extending over half their length. The pollen cones are erect, solitary and a bright golden color when mature, measuring 20cm long by 4cm wide. The seed cones are a closed type, consisting of tightly packed sporophylls that can measure up to 12cm long that will have an orange/yellow tomentose when mature and able to produce up to 6 seeds per sporophyll. These structures will average around 20cm in diameter and be located flat on the ground. Once pollinated the seeds will have a bright yellow, fleshy covering when ripe. The seeds themselves are slightly flat and globose in shape, measuring an average of 20mm long and 17mm in diameter with visible grooves. This species is found in rainforests with varying degrees of sunlight, though moist conditions with well-draining soil and partial shade seem to produce the best results for this species here at Montgomery. The Montgomery Botanical Center Plant of the Week is made possible with the support of the City of Coral Gables. #Plantoftheweek #montgomerybotanicalcenter #plantsofmontgomerybotanicalcenter #PlantsofMBC #plants #garden #cycad #cycads #Cycas #Cycasmicholitzii #cones #leaves #solitary #dioecious #pollencones #seedcones #petiole #spines #vulnerable #coralgablesarts (fb)

Montgomery is giving free guided tours at 9 am, 11 am, and 1 pm today (Friday, May 9th) as part of Go Public Gardens Day. Come visit us! Tours are brought to you with the support of the City of Coral Gables. @cityofcoralgables @americanpublicgardens #CoralGablesArts #Montgomerybotanicalcenter #MBC #palms #cycads #botanicgarden #gopublicgardens #gopublicgardensday #gopublicgardens2025 (fb)