About

Origin
Fanelli Cycads grew from a lifelong fascination with plants that challenge our understanding of what is possible in nature. Michael Fanelli grew up in a log cabin on acreage in the San Diego County backcountry bordering the Cleveland National Forest. From an early age, he was immersed in the landscape, learning to grow food, working with the land, and experimenting with organic and regenerative growing practices well before those ideas became widely discussed. That experience fostered a lasting appreciation for natural systems and a deep respect for the plants and environments that sustain them. Today, that connection has developed into a specialized living collection focused on some of the world’s most unusual and compelling plants.

Focus
Our collection has a particular emphasis on Cycads, mainly South African Encephalartos, including exceptional blue and Transvaal forms, as well as pachycaul trees like the remarkable Burseraceae family and the Operculicaryas. Among our areas of interest are the frankincense, myrrh, and copal-producing plants of Boswellia, Commiphora, and Bursera; genera that have played extraordinary roles in human culture for thousands of years. These plants are fascinating not simply because of their appearance or rarity, but because of what they produce. Their resins contain complex mixtures of terpenes, terpenoids, and other compounds that have shaped traditional medicine, incense, perfumery, and trade for centuries. Modern research continues to investigate the chemistry and biological activity of these compounds, while the extraordinary diversity between species, populations, and growing regions presents an enormous field for horticultural and botanical study. For us, this creates a particularly exciting intersection between living plants, chemistry, fragrance, traditional knowledge, horticulture, and conservation. We are interested not only in growing these species, but in understanding them – How they grow, where they come from, how they vary, what they produce, and how they can be propagated and maintained in cultivation for future generations. Many of the plants in our collection are uncommon in cultivation. Some come from highly restricted geographic ranges, while others are threatened in their natural habitats. Their resins and other natural products have also made several of these plants historically valuable, adding another dimension to the importance of maintaining genetically and geographically meaningful plants in cultivation.

Purpose
For us, collecting is only the beginning. Seeds, seedlings, cuttings, offsets, and mature specimens become part of an ongoing lineage. We document individual plants, their provenance, their development, and their relationships to future generations.
Propagation is therefore central to the collection. The goal is not simply to possess unusual plants, but to grow them well, understand them deeply, and create the possibility for their continued existence in cultivation. We hope the collection can eventually serve as a resource and point of connection for serious collectors, botanical gardens, researchers, horticulturists, and others who share an appreciation for exceptional plants and the natural history behind them.

The Grower
Michael’s professional life has continued to reinforce this philosophy. He currently works with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, where his work in a zoological and conservation environment has provided another perspective on the stewardship of living collections and the importance of preserving biological diversity. Outside of his professional work, he continues to build the Fanelli Cycads collection through growing, propagation, research, observation, and the acquisition of unusual specimens. Fanelli Cycads is a California licensed and inspected nursery, maintaining collection and nursery operations in accordance with California nursery regulations. The collection continues to evolve as plants mature, new species are acquired, and new generations are propagated from plants already in cultivation.

Fanelli Cycads is ultimately a living collection. Built from a lifelong connection to the natural world, with the hope that these remarkable plants will continue growing, changing, and inspiring curiosity long after they first came into our care.