Cycad Leaves and Deep Time

Cycad Leaves, (fresh, dried and colored)
Protea, Salix tortuosa, Chrysanthemum

I have recently read Oliver Sacks's memoir, On The Move: A Life. I love the book and the brilliant man behind, a scientist and a writer, a curious human being. There, in the book, I discovered his deep interest among many others for the cycad trees, whose existence goes back to Paleozoic era, roughly 520 million years ago. Through a plant, a cycad leave, one can reflect on the nature of deep geologic time.