Zamia Cycadifolia

''Zamia'' is a genus of cycad of the family Zamiaceae, native to North America from the United States (in Georgia and Florida) throughout the West Indies, Central America, and South America as far south as Bolivia.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> The genus is considered to be the most ecologically and morphologically diverse cycads, and is estimated to have originated about 68.3 million years ago.

Description

The genus comprises deciduous shrubs with aerial or subterranean circular stems, often superficially resembling palms. They produce spirally arranged, pinnate leaves which are pubescent, at least when young, having branched and simple, transparent and coloured hairs. The articulated leaflets lack a midrib, and are broad with subparallel dichotomous venation. Lower leaflets are not reduced to spines, though the petioles often have prickles. The emerging leaves of many ''Zamia'' species are striking, some emerging with a reddish or bronze cast ('' Z. roeslii'' being an example). '' Zamia picta'' is even more distinctive, being the only truly variegated cycad (having whitish/yellow speckles on the leaves).

Reproduction

''Zamia'' sporophylls are born in vertical rows in cones, and the megasporophyll apices are faceted or flattened, not spinose. The fleshy seeds are subglobular to oblong or ellipsoidal, and are red, orange, yellow or rarely white. The endosperm is haploid, derived from the female gametophyte. The embryo is straight, with two cotyledons that are usually united at the tips and a very long, spirally twisted suspensor. The sperm of members from the genus are large, as is typical of cycads, and ''Z. roezlii'' is an example; its sperm are approximately 0.4 mm long and can be seen by the unaided eye.

Preferred habitat

All the species of ''Zamia'' produce leafy crowns of foliage that make them choice garden specimens and most varieties branch heavily in age to produce handsome clumps. With a few exceptions, most ''Zamia'' species are found in warm, humid, tropical rainforest habitats, growing in the forest understory. However, many species are still fairly adaptable, performing quite well in cultivation, especially in subtropical areas. All species need good drainage and protection from the cold.

Ecology

At least one species, ''Z. pseudoparasitica'', grows as an epiphyte in the branches of trees.

Species

Accepted species:

# '' Zamia acuminata'' Oerst.ex Dyer - Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama
# ''Zamia amazonum'' D.W.Stev. - Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil
# '' Zamia amplifolia'' Hort.Bull ex Mast. - Colombia
# ''Zamia angustifolia'' Jacq. - The Bahamas, Cuba
# ''Zamia boliviana'' (Brongn.) A.DC. - Bolivia, Brazil (Mato Grosso)
# ''Zamia chigua'' Seem. - Colombia
# ''Zamia cremnophila'' Vovides, Schutzman & Dehgan - Tabasco, Mexico
# ''Zamia cunaria'' Dressler & D.W.Stev. - Panama
# '' Zamia decumbens'' Calonje, Meerman, M.P. Griff. & Hoese - Belize
# '' Zamia disodon'' D.W.Stev. & Sabato - Colombia
# ''Zamia dressleri'' D.W.Stev. - Panama
# ''Zamia elegantissima'' Schutzman, Vovides & R.S.Adams - Panama
# ''Zamia encephalartoides'' D.W. Stev. - Colombia
# ''Zamia erosa'' O.F.Cook & G.N.Collins - Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico
# '' Zamia fairchildiana'' L.D.Gómez - Panama, Costa Rica
# ''Zamia fischeri'' Miq. ex Lem. - Mexico (San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, Hidalgo, Querétaro, Tamaulipas)
# '' Zamia furfuracea'' L.f. - cardboard palm - Mexico (Veracruz)
# ''Zamia gentryi'' Dodson Ecuador
# ''Zamia gomeziana'' R.H.Acuña - Costa Rica
# '' Zamia grijalvensis'' Pérez-Farr., Vovides & Mart.-Camilo - Mexico (Chiapas)
# ''Zamia hamannii'' A.S.Taylor, J.L.Haynes & Holzman - Panama
# ''Zamia herrerae'' Calderón & Standl. - Mexico (Chiapas), El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras
# ''Zamia huilensis'' Calonje, H.E.Esquivel & D.W.Stev. Colombia
# '' Zamia hymenophyllidia'' D.W.Stev. - Colombia, Peru
# ''Zamia imperialis'' A.S.Taylor, J.L.Haynes & Holzman - Panama
# '' Zamia incognita'' A.Lindstr. & Idárraga - Colombia
# '' Zamia inermis'' Vovides, J.D.Rees & Vázq.Torres - Mexico (Veracruz)
# '' Zamia integrifolia'' L.f. - coontie palm/Florida arrowroot - United States ( Florida, Georgia), Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Puerto Rico
# ''Zamia ipetiensis'' D.W.Stev. - Panama
# ''Zamia katzeriana'' (Regel) E.Rettig - Mexico
# ''Zamia lacandona'' Schutzman & Vovides - Mexico (Chiapas)
# '' Zamia lecointei'' Ducke - Brazil ( Pará), Venezuela, Colombia, Peru
# ''Zamia lindenii'' Regel ex André - Peru, Ecuador
# ''Zamia lindleyi'' Warsz. ex A.Dietr. - Panama
# '' Zamia loddigesii'' Miq. Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico (Campeche, Chiapas, Veracruz, Puebla, Oaxaca, Hidalgo, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Quintana Roo, Yucatán
# ''Zamia lucayana'' Britton - Bahamas
# '' Zamia macrochiera'' D.W.Stev. - Peru
# '' Zamia manicata'' Linden ex Regel - Panama, Colombia
# ''Zamia meermanii'' Calonje - Belize
# ''Zamia melanorrhachis'' D.W.Stev. - Colombia
# ''Zamia montana'' A.Braun - Colombia
# '' Zamia monticola'' Chamb. - Guatemala
# ''Zamia muricata'' Willd. - Colombia, Venezuela
# ''Zamia nana'' A.Lindstr., Calonje, D.W.Stev. & A.S.Taylor Panama
# ''Zamia nesophila'' A.S.Taylor, J.L.Haynes & Holzman - Panama
# '' Zamia neurophyllidia'' D.W.Stev. - Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica
# ''Zamia obliqua'' A.Braun - Colombia
# '' Zamia onan-reyesii'' C.Nelson & Sandoval - Honduras
# ''Zamia oreillyi'' C.Nelson - Honduras
# ''Zamia paucijuga'' Wieland - Mexico ( Guerrero, Jalisco, Colima, Michoacán, Nayarit, Oaxaca)
# '' Zamia poeppigiana'' Mart. & Eichler - Bolivia, Brazil (Acre)
# ''Zamia portoricensis'' Urb. - Puerto Rico
# ''Zamia prasina'' W.Bull - Belize, Mexico (Tabasco, Yucatán)
# '' Zamia pseudomonticola'' L.D.Gómez - Panama, Costa Rica
# '' Zamia pseudoparasitica'' Yates - Panama
# '' Zamia pumila'' L. - guáyara / Dominican zamia - Hispaniola ( Dominican Republic), possibly Cuba; possibly extirpated in Puerto Rico and Haiti
# ''Zamia purpurea'' Vovides, J.D.Rees & Vázq.Torres - Mexico (Veracruz, Oaxaca)
# ''Zamia pygmaea'' Sims - Cuba
# ''Zamia pyrophylla'' Calonje, D.W.Stev. & A.Lindstr. - Colombia
# ''Zamia restrepoi'' (D.W.Stev.) A.Lindstr. - Colombia
# ''Zamia roezlii'' Regel ex Linden - Colombia, Ecuador
# ''Zamia sandovalii'' C.Nelson - Honduras
# ''Zamia skinneri'' Warsz. ex A.Dietr. - Panama
# ''Zamia soconuscensis'' Schutzman, Vovides & Dehgan - Mexico (Chiapas)
# '' Zamia spartea'' A.DC. in A.P.de Candolle - Mexico (Oaxaca)
# '' Zamia standleyi'' Schutzman - Guatemala, Honduras
# ''Zamia stevensonii'' A.S.Taylor & Holzman Panama
# '' Zamia stricta'' Miq. - Cuba
# ''Zamia tolimensis'' Calonje, H.E.Esquivel & D.W.Stev - Colombia
# '' Zamia tuerckheimii'' Donn.Sm. - Guatemala
# ''Zamia ulei'' Dammer - Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil
# '' Zamia urep'' B.Walln. - Peru
# ''Zamia variegata'' Warsz. - Mexico (Chiapas), Belize, Guatemala
# '' Zamia vazquezii'' D.W.Stev., Sabato & De Luca - Mexico (Veracruz)
# '' Zamia verschaffeltii'' Miq. - Mexico (Veracruz, Tabasco, Chiapas)
# ''Zamia wallisii'' H.J.Veitch - Colombia

References

External links

The Cycad Pages: Genus ''Zamia''

Further reading

* Lindström, A.J. and Idárraga, Á. (2009). ''Zamia incognita'' (Zamiaceae): the exciting discovery of a new gymnosperm from Colombia. '' Phytotaxa'' 2: 29-34.

{{Taxonbar, from=Q134842

Zamiaceae