What kind of Bonsai?

yuyu125678

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Hello there! I’ve recently gotten a newly grown bonsai but cannot identify what kind it is. Any help will be appreciated, thanks! Please note that it might not yet be fully grown.

16948153-77DD-47B8-A8B5-1BCDD4165F97.jpeg
 

Bonsai Nut

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Appears to be a Zamia furfuracea, the cardboard cycad. Looks like there are three very young plants.

Thank you :) I have just spent 30 minutes looking at photos of cycads, and couldn't identify it :)

And you will laugh when you learn... I have two big ones in my landscape in my backyard - but have never seen them so small before and they don't look much like the adult plants :)
 

Sifu

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I don't want to be that guy but ... how can you (or anyone) call this a bonsai? If you plant a grass or onion into a small "bonsai" pot that doesn't mean you've got a bonsai, right? ;)
 

vedecx

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You could plant a seedling into a small "bonsai" pot and still not call it a bonsai...Also, cycads are used occasionally as bonsai, such as multiheaded specimens. Just because these are still young and small does not mean they can't become something later on.
 

Cajunrider

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You could plant a seedling into a small "bonsai" pot and still not call it a bonsai...Also, cycads are used occasionally as bonsai, such as multiheaded specimens. Just because these are still young and small does not mean they can't become something later on.
I have a Sago palm with 3 heads and it stays small at <3" diameter. I've been thinking about digging it up and potting it.
 

TN_Jim

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Cycads are gymnosperms with secondary xylem; therefore, they can and do (albeit often “spongy”) produce wood.
 

yuyu125678

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Thank you for all your responses! When I bought it, the store owners there told me it was a bonsai but it seems to be quite young. It also doesn’t seem like any of my other bonsai. It also does look like a “cycad” but also not. Strange...:oops:
 

JoeH

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Thank you for all your responses! When I bought it, the store owners there told me it was a bonsai but it seems to be quite young. It also doesn’t seem like any of my other bonsai. It also does look like a “cycad” but also not. Strange...:oops:
Ohh, trust us it is a cycad. One that gets really large.

here's a nursery full of 'em.
furfuracea-seedlings.jpg
 

yuyu125678

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Ohh, trust us it is a cycad. One that gets really large.

here's a nursery full of 'em.
furfuracea-seedlings.jpg

Just wondering, are cycads toxic to humans? I’ve heard they were to animals and they might be dangerous for people.
 

It's Kev

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Just wondering, are cycads toxic to humans? I’ve heard they were to animals and they might be dangerous for people.

Seems like it, but that depends on your pet or toddler’s personality. Don’t eat it and you’ll be fine, if your pet is the tree chewing type, then don’t have a cycad, or a yew, or azalea. Again, it depends on your pet, my cat isn’t the tree chewing type, so I can have any tree I like. Her fetish is chewing plastic though.
I think if your cycad isn’t producing fruit or berries (or whatever they do) then there won’t be any temptation for a kid or any uninformed person to chew on it and die of liver failure.
Remember some personal hygiene, wash your hands when you’re done working on it, and you’ll be good to go.
 

Carol 83

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Seems like it, but that depends on your pet or toddler’s personality. Don’t eat it and you’ll be fine, if your pet is the tree chewing type, then don’t have a cycad, or a yew, or azalea. Again, it depends on your pet, my cat isn’t the tree chewing type, so I can have any tree I like. Her fetish is chewing plastic though.
I think if your cycad isn’t producing fruit or berries (or whatever they do) then there won’t be any temptation for a kid or any uninformed person to chew on it and die of liver failure.
Remember some personal hygiene, wash your hands when you’re done working on it, and you’ll be good to go.
My cat has never shown any interest in my trees or plants. But she also has a little problem with plastic bags, loves to sniff, chew and lay on them. I think she made need an intervention.
 
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