cork palm

The only species, corcho (Microcycas calocoma), is columnar in habit and occasionally branched. It reaches heights of 9 metres (30 feet) or more and is often mistaken for a palm. It is listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as critically endangered.

The extremely rare cork palms (Microcycas calocoma) of the western regions are “living fossils”—representatives of a genus of cycads thought to have existed for more than 100 million years. The abundant royal palm, reaching heights of 50 to 75 feet (15 to 23 metres), is the national tree…