CLASSIFICATION

The cycads are seed plants, one of the groups on non-flowering seed plants that evolved in the Mesozoic, long before the first flowering plants. There are 9 or 10 genera of cycads and several hundred species mostly from the Southern Hemisphere. The cycad collection in Belfast Botanic Gardens is extensive and growing.
The cycads are a group of plants of mainly tropical and sub-tropical distribution. Below is a summary classification showing relationships between the genera. The table contains links to genera of which we have examples in the Tropical Ravine.