Cycas seemannii “Fiji Gold”

Item description :  1 rooted offset of Cycas seemannii “Fiji Gold” with an approximately 5cm caudex in a 1.4L pot. The plant for sale is the plant on pictures. The last pictures show adult plant in the Fiji Islands, they’re all clones and the same genetic as the plant offered here. Only 1 plant available.

Habitat and Description :  A very special form of Cycas seemannii with yellow emergent leaves (normally green but above everything, the mature leaves exposed to the sun become partially yellow with green gradients giving it a very attractive aspect without having burns or necrosis on the leaves. Very rare in cultivation and very hard to obtain, offsets having the reputation of being difficult to root;

This plant has been an enigma for a long time: plants can be found cultivated throughout Fiji but are not present in the natural populations of the islands. Apparently, it’s been brought from Vanuatu as a population with yellow plant was found there in recent years! It’s possible that this peculiar feature motivated people into digging some plants and bring them to other islands.

Care : Very easy to grow and fast growing species as long as it’s given heat, water in summer, slow release fertilizer and protected from the cold.

Color of the foliage : The yellow hue of the leaves will only appear when the plant is exposed to the direct sun. This one has been cultivated in the shade in a greenhouse so the leaves are green. I highly recommand to grow it a few years in half shade before exposing it to full sun so that it becomes strong enough as it’s quite likely that the yellow part are much less efficient at photosynthesis than the green part, and might slow its growth down when young;

Cold hardiness : Not hardy, should be kept inside in winter or planted in zones 10 and above