Area protetta regionale Giardini Botanici Hanbury

It is a group of very ancient origins, currently including one hundred of species, which in the Mesozoic Age (from 200 to 100 million years ago) represented about the two fifths of the terrestrial flora.
In the roots of these plants particular blue algae live in symbiosis: they are able to fix the atmospheric nitrogen and to convert it in mixtures available for the plants.
The aspect is similar to the aspect of the palms: in some species the trunk develops in height (up to 20m), in others is shortened and has at its top a tuft of leaves.
You can distinguish individuals with female apparatuses (with ovules which are rather evident) and individuals with male apparatuses looking like erected cones.