Have your buddy look up Cycas revoluta.

Tough plant… will sunburn if the pot is turned around so that North facing fronds are facing south. Fine here to 20F.

I have heard and read mixed comments regarding turning cycads... One article suggested turning them a quarter turn every day (!), will keep them balanced in shape, and healthy; another said that bright light is essential, but to leave them positioned as they are or the leaves twist.... Can anyone clear this confusion up once and for all, please....?!

Not if you turn them, they don't. I used to have one, and I used to turn mine (according to instructions received at the time) but I didn't turn them regularly or evenly. So I ended up with leaves turning in different directions.... Hence my question above: Should one turn them in a regular daily way, or leave them still?

I'm sorry to be argumentative, but if you turn them - they do.

"Rotate the palm one-quarter of a turn every one to two weeks during the summer, fall and winter months to promote uniform growth. Do not rotate the palms during the spring while new leaves are emerging, to allow the young foliage time to develop mature, straight stems."

From here

"I agree with LPN, those poor leaves are vainly reaching for the light and are not getting enough of it to make fat, healthy fronds. Just be careful, when you move it closer to the light, that it does not get burned. Also, keep it oriented in the same compass direction (e.g., north) so that the leaves don't get twisted out of shape. Unlike most houseplants, cycads do not like to be rotated. Good luck!"

From a forum Q&A

See what I mean about conflicting opinions...?!

There are likely a number of factors at play here. Isolating the Turning/Sunburning aspect..... If the plant is rotated significantly after it has fully opened a new flush of leaves, the change in Light level and direction will most definitely set the stage for sunburn (leaflets turning light first then almost white) . However, sun and sunburn are not what is causing the desiccated fronds on the plant shown.... Experience with that look here has consistently proven to be lack of water. (Tropical environments for these plants typically have relatively high humidity... hence lower water transpiration. Good luck.

For my part, fascinating. Extremely erudite and detailed replies. Many thanks, definitely food for thought.

I am new to this forum I am looking to research another cycas , but I do grow several cycad revoluta outdoors in Z8b-8a. I see calico marks like that on mine when they get cold damage. I cut the fronds off and all the energy goes into the next spurt of growth. If I am going to get a really cold snap, I cut the fronds off before the cold front so I can wrap the column better and easier. the plant is about 6'accross and hard to protect otherwise. My thinking is that the fronds are toast anyway in time, so why not get them out of the way and have them as part of the protection and not impeding it.

Interesting about the sunburning and twisting..

You have to get cold to think about cold.LOL. My light frosts do not make these marks but freezes into the low 20's and teens do. They don't appear immediately but slowly after the cold event. This winter our low was an amazing 31.5 and there were no calico variations.

It would be more polite to not thread-jack, but to start your own thread. This thread is about Cycads.

lbs is weight measure, not a currency indicator. And as opposed to the insulting slap-down I received when I inadvertently posted something considered 'off-topic', my caveat was positively genial.... But if thread-jacks are permitted, pardon my intervention....