Cycadophyta
Cycas circinalis with old and new male cones.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Cycadophyta
Class:	Cycadopsida
Order:	Cycadales Dumortier
Families
Cycadaceae Cycas family Stangeriaceae Stangeria family Zamiaceae Zamia family

Leaves and cone of Encephalartos sclavoi

Pinnate divided leaves of a cycad, with new growth in the centre in the form of a bud

Cycads in South Africa

Cycads are seed plants whose fossils are first found in the early Permian period.

They were very common in the Mesozoic era, the age of the dinosaurs, and are still living, but are now much less common. Only nine genera (about 100 species) of cycads are extant nowadays. In the Lower Jurassic they were part of the forests which became the Jurassic coal measures in part of the world. The fronds could be reached and eaten by some of the typical herbivores of the day.

Cycads are thought to have evolved from order Pteridospermae (seed ferns) of angiosperms, now totally extinct.