<p> Cycad plants, living fossils that survived for nearly 300 million years, are now facing an extinction threat in India.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Of the 12 cycad species reported in India, three are ‘critically endangered’, three are ‘endangered’ and another three are ‘vulnerable’. For the remaining three, data is deficient, but scientists studying this plant say those three are also under threat.<br /><br />A common ornamental plant in urban India, cycads are the most primitive seed plants characterised by a large crown of compound leaves and a stout trunk. They are often termed as living fossils as they underwent little change compared to their Mesozoic ancestors.<br /><br />Cycads are listed among the most threatened plant families in the world in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s 1997 Red List of Threatened Plants. Nearly 64% of cycads are threatened, which is the highest value of risk of extinction given to any group of organism.<br /><br />“All the habitats of Indian cycad species are threatened and have suffered severe reduction and degradation. These ever-increasing pressures are mainly due to clearing of forests, increase in human population, urbanisation and unsustainable harvesting of seeds and male cones,” said R K Roy, scientist at the National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), Lucknow.<br /><br />For the plants located in the vicinity of human settlements, the extinction threats are due to anthropogenic activities, especially cleaning of forest for agriculture and illegal mining. In the Eastern Ghats, unsustainable harvesting of seeds led to its reduction.<br /><br />Over the years, these plants found multiple use. <br />Indian cycads are extensively used as food and traditional medicine, and in cultural and religious rituals wherever they grow naturally. In South India, cycad fronds are used to decorate temples and churches.<br /><br />In remote areas of the Western and Eastern Ghats, its seeds are extensively used as food as an alternative for starch.<br /><br />Male cones are used as a pest repellent in Kerala and Odisha, while in the Northeast, the young leaves are commonly used as a green vegetable.<br /><br />With their survival under threat, NBRI scientists, in a report published in the December 10 issue of the journal Current Science, suggested special conservative arrangements for cycads.</p>
<p> Cycad plants, living fossils that survived for nearly 300 million years, are now facing an extinction threat in India.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Of the 12 cycad species reported in India, three are ‘critically endangered’, three are ‘endangered’ and another three are ‘vulnerable’. For the remaining three, data is deficient, but scientists studying this plant say those three are also under threat.<br /><br />A common ornamental plant in urban India, cycads are the most primitive seed plants characterised by a large crown of compound leaves and a stout trunk. They are often termed as living fossils as they underwent little change compared to their Mesozoic ancestors.<br /><br />Cycads are listed among the most threatened plant families in the world in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s 1997 Red List of Threatened Plants. Nearly 64% of cycads are threatened, which is the highest value of risk of extinction given to any group of organism.<br /><br />“All the habitats of Indian cycad species are threatened and have suffered severe reduction and degradation. These ever-increasing pressures are mainly due to clearing of forests, increase in human population, urbanisation and unsustainable harvesting of seeds and male cones,” said R K Roy, scientist at the National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), Lucknow.<br /><br />For the plants located in the vicinity of human settlements, the extinction threats are due to anthropogenic activities, especially cleaning of forest for agriculture and illegal mining. In the Eastern Ghats, unsustainable harvesting of seeds led to its reduction.<br /><br />Over the years, these plants found multiple use. <br />Indian cycads are extensively used as food and traditional medicine, and in cultural and religious rituals wherever they grow naturally. In South India, cycad fronds are used to decorate temples and churches.<br /><br />In remote areas of the Western and Eastern Ghats, its seeds are extensively used as food as an alternative for starch.<br /><br />Male cones are used as a pest repellent in Kerala and Odisha, while in the Northeast, the young leaves are commonly used as a green vegetable.<br /><br />With their survival under threat, NBRI scientists, in a report published in the December 10 issue of the journal Current Science, suggested special conservative arrangements for cycads.</p>
