Editing Cycad (section)

== Description ==
[[File: Cycad leaves semicircle.jpg|thumb|Cycads have a rosette of pinnate leaves around a cylindrical trunk]]
Cycads have a [[cylindrical]] trunk which usually does not [[branch]]. However, some types of cycads, such as ''[[Cycas zeylanica]],'' can branch their trunks. The apex of the stem is protected by modified leaves called [[cataphyll]]s.<ref>{{cite journal | pmc=6315973 | year=2018 | last1=Marler | first1=T. E. | last2=Krishnapillai | first2=M. V. | title=Does Plant Size Influence Leaf Elements in an Arborescent Cycad? | journal=Biology | volume=7 | issue=4 | page=51 | doi=10.3390/biology7040051 | pmid=30551676 | doi-access=free }}</ref> Leaves grow directly from the trunk, and typically fall when older, leaving a crown of leaves at the top. The leaves grow in a [[rosette (botany)|rosette]], with new foliage emerging from the top and center of the crown. The trunk may be buried, so the leaves appear to be emerging from the ground, so the plant appears to be a basal rosette. The leaves are generally large in proportion to the trunk size, and sometimes even larger than the trunk.

The leaves are [[pinnate]] (in the form of bird feathers, [[pinnation|pinnae]]), with a central leaf stalk from which parallel "ribs" emerge from each side of the stalk, perpendicular to it. The leaves are typically either compound (with [[leaflet (botany)|leaflets]] emerging from the leaf stalk as "ribs"), or have edges ([[Leaf margin|margin]]s) so deeply cut ([[Wiktionary:incised|incised]]) so as to appear compound. The Australian genus ''[[Bowenia]]'' and some Asian species of Cycas, like ''[[Cycas multipinnata]]'', ''[[Cycas micholitzii|C.&nbsp;micholitzii]]'' and ''[[Cycas debaoensis|C.&nbsp;debaoensis]]'', have leaves that are [[bipinnate]], the leaflets each having their own subleaflets, growing [[Self-similar|in the same form]] on the leaflet as the leaflets do on the stalk.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rutherford |first=Catherine |url=https://www.kew.org/sites/default/files/2019-02/CITESCycadsPack.pdf.pdf |title=CITES and Cycads: A User's Guide |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |display-editors=et al.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_EMbBAAAQBAJ&dq=C.+multipinnata+within+the+genus.+C.+debaoensis&pg=PA129 | title=Cycadaceae Family | isbn=9781300654537 | last1=Lariushin | first1=Boris | date=19 January 2013 | publisher=Lulu.com }}</ref>