Lahore Park: Rare tree from dinosaur-era lineage puts out full crown

LAHORE: A 176-year-old Queen Sago Palm, a member of a plant lineage older than the dinosaurs, is in full leaf at Lawrence Garden, an officer of the Punjab Horticulture Authority (PHA) disclosed here on Sunday.

The tree predates the historic garden, which was developed in the 1860s as a botanical garden and leisure ground. He said the garden was modelled on London’s Kew Gardens.

Queen Sago Palms are Cycads, an ancient group of seed-bearing plants whose fossil record dates to the Permian period, about 280 million to 300 million years ago. The world’s oldest potted plant, a Cycad, has been at Kew since 1775.

Cycads became particularly widespread during the Mesozoic Era, when dinosaurs dominated the Earth. Their abundance during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods has led to the era being described as the “Age of Cycads”, alongside the “Age of Dinosaurs”.

Plant-eating dinosaurs, including long-necked sauropods, are believed to have fed on the foliage, cones, and nutrient-rich seeds of Cycads, including Sago Palm, which were widespread in the Mesozoic era.

Cycads are also known for their exceptionally slow growth and longevity. According to horticulture experts, Sago Palms require around four to five hours of sunlight daily and relatively little water once established. Their slow-growing nature allows them to survive in a range of growing conditions, including relatively dry and poor soils.

Their structure has changed little over hundreds of millions of years, so they are commonly called “living fossils”. However, their numbers have declined considerably, and about 60 percent of assessed species are now threatened with extinction in their natural habitats, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, the global inventory of extinction risk.

Commenting on the development, the spokesperson said the PHA looks after the province’s green cover and also manages some of the world’s oldest prehistoric trees. “The fact that the Sago Palm in Lahore is not only prehistoric but also belongs to a threatened variety makes it especially significant,” he said.

He said Lawrence Garden was regarded as one of Asia’s largest botanical gardens, with around 150 varieties of trees, including 30 species of palms. Its collection includes trees and plants introduced by the British from across the Indian Empire, as well as from Austria, Palestine, Syria and other parts of Europe, he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026