The genus
Cycas is native to parts of
Asia, eastern
Africa and
Oceania. In Asia,
Cycas (and therefore, the family Cycadaceae) represent the only cycads native to Asia. Within Asia,
Cycas species are native from
India and
Sri Lanka in the west, through
China to
Japan in the north east and through south east Asia (including the
Philippines) to
Indonesia in the south. Globally, the northernmost species (
Cycas revoluta) is found at 31°N in southern Japan. In Oceania,
Cycas species are native to
Australia,
Papua New Guinea, and the island nations of the
Pacific Ocean region, but are absent from
New Zealand. As in Asia,
Cycas is the only genus of cycad found across the region, with the exception for Australia, where cycads native to all three families of cycads are found. Despite this, Australia also has the largest number of
Cycas species globally with 34 native
Cycas species accepted (as of April 2024), including the southernmost species globally (
Cycas megacarpa) found at 26°S in southeast
Queensland. At least 7
Cycas species are found in
Papua New Guinea, some of which are also found in parts of neighbouring
Indonesia. Globally, some
Cycas species are considered to be relatively widespread, for example
Cycas thouarsii is native to a large area of mainland Africa and islands of the Indian Ocean, and
Cycas pectinata and
Cycas clivicola are both native to large areas of Asia; however, most
Cycas species have restricted distributions, with some restricted to very small areas. In Asia, for example, more than 75% of species occur in no more than one country. For some countries, even though the number of species may not be high, the level of species-specific genetic variation can be very high meaning that so that even countries with few species, it may contain distinct gene pools of widespread species. ==Evolution==