Photo: José Cid Gomes
The Mozambique Botanical Mission of 1963–1964, led by António Rocha da Torre and Jorge Paiva, was one of the most important scientific expeditions undertaken by Portuguese naturalists in the twentieth century. It resulted in thousands of specimens preserved at the University of Coimbra Herbarium, as well as a living specimen that is still cultivated in the Botanical Garden. In 1964, Jorge Paiva collected a cycad from a garden in the city of Quelimane and brought it to the Tropical Greenhouse of the Botanical Garden. It remained there until being transplanted to the Cold Greenhouse, where it is currently located. Although over 60 years old, this specimen (MZ-0-COI-1964/00001) has never produced the characteristic cones of cycads. It belongs to the species Cycas thouarsii, native to the islands of the Western Indian Ocean and the eastern African coast, and is the only species of its genus found outside the Asia-Pacific region. The species name honours the French botanist Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars.