CYCADS: FERNLIKE FRONDS ON PINEAPPLE TRUNKS
When non-avian dinosaurs went extinct 66 million years ago, cycads did not. Several species still exist, including one that is popular for indoor/outdoor decoration: the sago palm. But this is no palm! Although palm-like fronds sprout from pineapple-like trunks, that’s as palmy as it gets. Palms belong to a group of flowering plants called angiosperms. Cycads belong to a more ancient group called gymnosperms. Cycads appeared before the dinosaurs but became most abundant alongside them. Per paleobotanists, they may have made up 20% of all plants during the Triassic and Jurassic Periods. Some even call the Jurassic Period “The Age of Cycads.”