Dioon edule cycad coning

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Although cycads look like palm trees, they are more closely related to pine trees, and both types of plants produce cones for reproduction. Cycads are dioecious, in other words, either male or female. This is common in animals, but rare in plants. You can tell if a cycad is male or female by the cone it produces, but sometimes it takes many decades for the first cone to develop, so you have to be patient! This particular specimen is male, as evidenced by the shape of the cone. The female cone would be much rounder. In order to produce viable seeds, a female cycad must be coning at the same time as a male cycad, so the pollen of this particular cone has no place to go. It will last a few weeks, then break apart and crumble away.

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