Answer: Yields sago (food starch from stem pith).
- A Serves as a commercial source of natural latex rubber
- B Yields sago (food starch from stem pith)
- C Harvested as a primary source of construction-grade timber
- D Cultivated as a source of silk fiber from its leaf surface
Correct answer: B. Yields sago (food starch from stem pith)
Explanation: Cycas revoluta (Sago palm) yields sago, a starch food extracted from the stem pith. Cycas is also used as an ornamental plant. It is considered a living fossil as it is an ancient gymnosperm.
Plants evolved from water-dependent algae through increasingly land-adapted groups, gaining vascular tissue (Pteridophyta), then seeds (Gymnosperms), and finally fruit-enclosed seeds (Angiosperms) - each step reducing dependence on water for reproduction.
Concept context
Classification of plants from algae to angiosperms. Understanding plant diversity is essential for NEET.