Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sago Palms (
Cycas revoluta
)
Indigenous to southern Japan and the Ryukyus and now employed as atracive landscape and garden
specimens throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world, so-called sago “palms” are
only very distantly related to the palm family, nor are they ferns. They are cycads, a millions of years
old family of plants unchanged since the ime of dinosaurs and more closely related to ginkos and
conifers. There are several hundred species spread over a dozen genera. Very slow growing but long-
lived, they can reach heights of 20 feet (6 meters) in 50-100 years. They are dioecious, that is, they are
male and female plants, with the males bearing large cones and the females bearing great groups of
furled new leaf-type organs called
megasporophylls
. Although generally quite poisonous, the plant's
starch may be consumed ater proper preparaion. In Japan, sago palms are known as
sotétsu
(
蘇鉄
or
ソテツ
). The cluster at right is one of some 100,000 sagos covering a hillside in Tatsugō on Amami-
Ōshima.
Edatekujima, an uninhabited islet off Ōshima's western shore.
As mentioned, the island's interior is mountainous. Some of the older roads twist and
turn up the mountains and can be slow-going. However, in many sections, newer roads pass
