Bowenia is a rare type of cycad, with just two species surviving today in small areas of coastal Australia. Fossils resembling this genus are known from the Late Cretaceous and Eocene of Australia. Unique among cycads, Bowenia has a distinctly fern-like appearance, with delicate, finely divided fronds emerging from an underground stem.

Recently, a fossil from Argentina (previously classified as Almargemia incrassata) was re-examined and found to be closely related to Bowenia. It was renamed Eobowenia, and reveals that the lineage once spanned much of the southern supercontinent Gondwana, with a fossil record extending back at least to the Early Cretaceous