Zamia

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. The genus is considered to be the most ecologically and morphologically diverse of the 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:
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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 bussellii Schutzman et al.
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 imbricata Calonje & Castro
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 lindosensis Stevenson, Cárdenas & Castaño
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 paucifoliolata Calonje
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 sinuensis Calonje & Castro
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 stenophyllidia Nicolalde-Morejón, Martínez-Domínguez & Stevenson
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
Zamia, by Ada Welsch
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.
Zamiaceae