“It was not only the sheer gigantism that seemed characteristic of the group – the biggest spermatozoids, the biggest egg cells, the biggest growing apices, the biggest cones, the biggest everything in the vegetable world. It was rather the sense that cycads were brilliantly adaptable and resourceful life-forms, full of unusual capacities and developments which had enabled them to survive for a quarter of a billion years, when so many of their contemporaries had fallen by the way”.
Oliver Sacks, The Island of the Colorblind (1996)  

Cycads are the most ancient seed plants still alive today and date back to the late Carboniferous period, some 300-325 million years ago. During the age of the dinosaurs, cycads were the most common plant on earth. Today, they make up a minor component of the plant kingdom although the remaining species can be found around the world, including in Uganda. Generally, cycads tend to have a crown of large compound of leaves and a stout trunk. They are often confused with and mistaken for palms or ferns but are related to neither. They are famous for being able to survive in a variety of very harsh climates, which probably explains why they have survived for so long. They can grow in sand and rock, survive annual freezes and snow and some are even salt tolerant! Furthermore, cycads can live as long as 2500 years. A tour with Kabarole Tours and Safaris will take you to see an endangered colony of these amazing plants at the Mpanga Water Falls.