Zamia


Zamia is a genus of cycad of the family Zamiaceae, native to Mexico, the West Indies, and Central and South America as far south as Bolivia. The range of one species. Zamia picta is even more distinctive, being the only truly variegated cycad.
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 the genus are large, as is typical of cycads, and Zamia roezlii is an example; its sperm are approximately 0.4 mm long and can be seen by the unaided eye.
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.
At least one species, Z. pseudoparasitica, grows as an epiphyte in the branches of trees.
The name Zamia comes from the Greek azaniae, meaning "a pine cone".

Species

Accepted species:
  1. Zamia acuminata Oerst.ex Dyer - Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama
  2. Zamia amazonum D.W.Stev. - Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil
  3. Zamia amplifolia Hort.Bull ex Mast. - Colombia
  4. Zamia angustifolia Jacq. - The Bahamas, Cuba
  5. Zamia boliviana A.DC. - Bolivia, Mato Grosso
  6. Zamia chigua Seem. - Colombia
  7. Zamia cremnophila Vovides, Schutzman & Dehgan - Tabasco
  8. Zamia cunaria Dressler & D.W.Stev. - Panama
  9. Zamia decumbens Calonje, Meerman, M.P. Griff. & Hoese - Belize
  10. Zamia disodon D.W.Stev. & Sabato - Colombia
  11. Zamia dressleri D.W.Stev. - Panama
  12. Zamia elegantissima Schutzman, Vovides & R.S.Adams - Panama
  13. Zamia encephalartoides D.W. Stev.
  14. Zamia erosa O.F.Cook & G.N.Collins - Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico
  15. Zamia fairchildiana L.D.Gómez - Panama, Costa Rica
  16. Zamia fischeri Miq. ex Lem. - San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, Hidalgo, Querétaro, Tamaulipas
  17. Zamia furfuracea L.f. - Cardboard Zamia - Veracruz; naturalized in Cuba
  18. Zamia gentryi Dodson Ecuador
  19. Zamia gomeziana R.H.Acuña - Costa Rica
  20. Zamia grijalvensis Pérez-Farr., Vovides & Mart.-Camilo - Chiapas
  21. Zamia hamannii A.S.Taylor, J.L.Haynes & Holzman - Panama
  22. Zamia herrerae Calderón & Standl. - Chiapas, El Salvador, Guatemala; possibly Nicaragua and Honduras
  23. Zamia huilensis
  24. Zamia hymenophyllidia D.W.Stev. - Colombia, Peru
  25. Zamia imperialis A.S.Taylor, J.L.Haynes & Holzman - Panama
  26. Zamia incognita A.Lindstr. & Idárraga - Colombia
  27. Zamia inermis Vovides, J.D.Rees & Vázq.Torres - Veracruz
  28. Zamia integrifolia L.f. - Florida Coontie, Florida Arrowroot - Florida, Georgia, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Puerto Rico
  29. Zamia ipetiensis D.W.Stev. - Panama
  30. Zamia katzeriana - Mexico
  31. Zamia lacandona Schutzman & Vovides - Chiapas
  32. Zamia lecointei Ducke - Pará, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru
  33. Zamia lindenii Regel ex André - Peru, Ecuador
  34. Zamia lindleyi Warsz. ex A.Dietr. - Panama
  35. Zamia loddigesii Miq. Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Campeche, Chiapas, Veracruz, Puebla, Oaxaca, Hidalgo, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Quintana Roo, Yucatán
  36. Zamia lucayana Britton - Bahamas
  37. Zamia macrochiera D.W.Stev. - Peru
  38. Zamia manicata Linden ex Regel - Panama, Colombia
  39. Zamia meermanii Calonje - Belize
  40. Zamia melanorrhachis D.W.Stev. - Colombia
  41. Zamia montana A.Braun - Colombia
  42. Zamia monticola Chamb. - Guatemala
  43. Zamia muricata Willd. - Colombia, Venezuela
  44. Zamia nana
  45. Zamia nesophila A.S.Taylor, J.L.Haynes & Holzman - Panama
  46. Zamia neurophyllidia D.W.Stev. - Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica
  47. Zamia obliqua A.Braun - Colombia
  48. Zamia onan-reyesii C.Nelson & Sandoval - Honduras
  49. Zamia oreillyi C.Nelson - Honduras
  50. Zamia paucijuga Wieland - Guerrero, Jalisco, Colima, Michoacán, Nayarit, Oaxaca
  51. Zamia poeppigiana Mart. & Eichler - Bolivia, Acre State of Brazil
  52. Zamia portoricensis Urb. - Puerto Rico
  53. Zamia prasina W.Bull - Belize, Tabasco, Yucatán Peninsula
  54. Zamia pseudomonticola L.D.Gómez - Panama, Costa Rica
  55. Zamia pseudoparasitica Yates - Panama
  56. Zamia pumila L. - Dominican Zamia - Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Florida
  57. Zamia purpurea Vovides, J.D.Rees & Vázq.Torres - Veracruz, Oaxaca
  58. Zamia pygmaea Sims - Cuba
  59. Zamia pyrophylla Calonje, D.W.Stev. & A.Lindstr. - Colombia
  60. Zamia restrepoi A.Lindstr. - Colombia
  61. Zamia roezlii Regel ex Linden - Colombia, Ecuador
  62. Zamia sandovalii C.Nelson - Honduras
  63. Zamia skinneri Warsz. ex A.Dietr. - Panama
  64. Zamia soconuscensis Schutzman, Vovides & Dehgan - Chiapas
  65. Zamia spartea A.DC. in A.P.de Candolle - Oaxaca
  66. Zamia standleyi Schutzman - Guatemala, Honduras
  67. Zamia stevensonii
  68. Zamia stricta Miq. - Cuba
  69. Zamia tolimensis Calonje, H.E.Esquivel & D.W.Stev - Colombia
  70. Zamia tuerckheimii Donn.Sm. - Guatemala
  71. Zamia ulei Dammer - Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, northern Brazil
  72. Zamia urep B.Walln. - Peru
  73. Zamia variegata Warsz. - Chiapas, Belize, Guatemala
  74. Zamia vazquezii D.W.Stev., Sabato & De Luca - Veracruz
  75. Zamia verschaffeltii Miq. - Veracruz, Tabasco, Chiapas
  76. Zamia wallisii H.J.Veitch - Colombia