ZAMIA 



ZAMIOCULCAS 



3533 



r 



4025. 



Staminate 



cone of Zamia 



floridana. 



ZAMIA (name used by Pliny, meaning loss or dam- 

 age, and first applied to barren pine cones, and trans- 

 ferred to these plants apparently because of the cone-like 

 fruit). Cycadaceae. Perennial, tropical and subtropical 

 plants, resembling palms and in some respects ferns. 



Caudex sometimes a low trunk, simply lobed or 

 branched, standing above or almost below ground: Ivs. 

 few, developing one after the other, pinnately com- 

 pound; pinnae broad or narrow, articulate at base, 

 entire or serrate, parallel- veined; petiole 

 smooth or spinulose: cones rather small 

 for the order, glabrous or rarely scurfy: 

 fls. dioecious, male cone oblong-cylindri- 

 cal, female cone similar but larger and 

 thicker: ovules sessile, ovoid. About 36 

 species, Trop. and Subtrop. Amer. One 

 of the 9 genera of the Cycas family, as 

 constituted by Alphonse De Candolle 

 (Prodr. 16, pt. 2, pp. 522-17). Other 

 genera of horticultural interest and dis- 

 cussed in this Cyclopedia are Cerato- 

 zamia, Cycas, Dioon, Encephalartos, and 

 Macrozamia. The fls. of cycads are 

 dioecious, without envelopes ; the pistillate 

 fls. are mere naked ovules inserted under 

 scales in cones, and the staminate fls. are 

 simple anthers under similar scales. The 

 plants are therefore gymnospenns (seeds 

 naked or not inclosed in a pericarp or 

 ripened ovary) and are allied to the coni- 

 fers. The fr. is a berry-like drupe. In 

 Zamia the floral scales are peltate (and 

 not horned) and form a cylindrical cone; the anthers 

 are numerous, and the ovules pendulous in pairs. The 

 fecundation of Zamia has been studied by H. J. Webber 

 (Bull. No. 2, Bur. PI. Ind., U. S. Dept. Agric.). His con- 

 clusions respecting the Floridian species are accepted 

 below. 



The zamias are stocky short- and usually simple- 

 stemmed cycas-like plants, the trunk sometimes sub- 

 terranean, with long-pinnate evergreen leaves or fronds, 

 the leaflets being thickened and usually broadened at 

 the base, and jointed. Zamias are warmhouse plants, to 

 be treated like species of Cycas or Encephalartos, which 

 see. The plants are propagated by means of seeds and 

 offsets; also by division when there is more than one 

 crown. 



A. Petiole prickly. 



furfuracea, Ait. Trunk cylindrical, 1-2 ft. tall: peti- 

 oles dilated and concave at the base, with several small 

 prickles; Ifts. about 10-12 pairs, opposite or alternate, 

 oblanceolate, entire on the lower half but serrate or 

 jagged toward the top, acute or obtuse, scurfy beneath 

 (as also the rachis) : cone oval-conical, downy, peduncu- 

 late, pale yellowish brown, the pistillate ones 4 in. or 

 less long. Mex. B.M. 1969. 



Lindenii, Regel. Trunk cylindrical, 2-4 ft. or more 

 tall when well grown: petioles long, cylindrical, sparsely 

 provided with tawny wool, the prickles short-conical 

 and spreading; Ifts. 20 or more pairs, 

 glabrous or somewhat puberulous, 

 nearly or quite opposite, sessile, long- 

 lanceolate and acuminate, dentate-ser- 

 rate toward the top. Ecuador. I.H. 

 22:195. 



AA. Petiole not pricldy. 



B. Species growing beyond the limits of 



the U. S. 



integrifdlia, Ait. Trunk 12-18 in. 

 tall, erect, globular or oblong: Ivs. gla- 

 brous; Ifts. alternate, 7-16 pairs, oblong 

 to linear-lanceolate to lanceolate, mostly 4026 



obtuse, entire or somewhat dentate pistillate cone of 

 toward the apex : cones oblong and Zamia floridana. 



obtuse, shbrt-peduncled. W. Indies. B.M. 1851. The 

 Fla. plants, sometimes referred here, are apparently all 

 Z. floridana and Z. pumila. 



mexicana, Miq. Distinguished by DeCandolle as fol- 

 lows: scales of the If .-buds tomentose and also the 

 petioles at the base, the petioles 3-cornered, unarmed, 

 glabrous, somewhat warty: Ifts. of 9 or more pairs, 

 subopposite, narrow-lanceolate, straight or slightly 

 curved, acute or acutish, rigidly coriaceous, dark green, 

 many-nerved, spinulose-serrulate from the middle to 

 the apex. Mex. By Index Kewensis referred to Z. 

 Loddigesii, a species with prickly petioles. 



pseado-parasitica, Yates (Z. Roezlii, Regel). Dis- 

 tinguished as follows by DeCandolle: trunk cylindrical: 

 Ifts. lanceolate, sinuose-falcate, entire, glabrous, acute 

 at the base, cuspidate at the apex, with 18 strong nerves 

 which are twice bifurcate. Panama. Grows on tree 



trunks. 



angustifolia, Jacq. Foliage glabrous when mature; 

 Ifts. 5 in. long, 4-20 pairs, usually alternate, elongated 

 and narrowly linear, the 

 apex obtuse and very ob- 

 scurely serrulate or entire, 

 the base not narrowed, 

 6-8-nerved: pistillate cone 

 obtuse but cuspidate. 

 Bahamas, Cuba. 



BB. Species native to Fla. 



floridana, DC. COON- 

 TTE. COMPTTE. Figs. 4024- 

 4027. Lvs. ovate or ovate- 

 lanceolate; petiole tri- 

 angular in outline, sericeo- 

 tomentose at base, with 

 scattered hairs above; Ifts. 

 mostly opposite, 14-20 

 pairs, glabrous above and 

 with scattered hairs 

 beneath, linear, falcate and 

 somewhat twisted, nar- 

 rowed at the base and 

 obtuse at the apex, the 

 margin revolute and with a few obscure teeth: mature 

 pistillate cones oblong, 6-6 in. (12-16 H cm.) long, 

 markedly umbonate (projection on the scales), densely 

 tomentose. Abundant in S. Fla. on the east coast below 

 latitude 26 30', in open comparatively dry pine woods. 



pumila, Linn. Differs, according to Webber, in hav- 

 ing shorter and broader Ifts. which are less twisted and 

 not so erect and rigid, and in its shorter and non-um- 

 bonate cones with seed-bearing scales thinner and more 

 flattened at outer end. Abundant in Cent. Fla., rang- 

 ing from 28 30' north for 1 of latitude, in dense 

 moist woods. 



Z. cordllipes, Versch., is Macrozamia spiralia. Z. Denisoni, 

 Auth., is Macrozamia Peroffskyana. Z. glaiica, Hort.=Cycas 

 Rumphii(?). Z. pungens, Ait.=Encephalartos pungens. Z. 

 spinosa, Lodd.=Encephalartos Altensteinii. L H B 



ZAMIOCtJLCAS (Zamia and Cvlcas). Aracese. 

 One species, sometimes grown in the warmhouse 

 for ornament and curiosity, it being one of the very 

 few aroids with pinnate Ivs. Z. zamiiffilia, Engler 

 (Z. Loddigesii, Schott. Caladium zamisefdlium^Lodd.), 

 grows in Trop. Afr. It is an evergreen perennial herb, 

 with stout creeping rootstock, and erect glabrous 

 radical Ivs. standing 1^-2 ft. high: Ifts. about 12, 

 opposite or alternate, oblanceolate, acute, jointed to 

 the petiole and forming small tubers at the base after 

 falling: spathe convolute at base with spreading or 

 reflexed, blade, green, glabrous; spadix club-shaped, 

 with female fls. below and male fls. on the longer 

 upward part, whitish, about 1-1 H i Q - I n 8 an( l H m - 

 thick. B.M. 5985. L.B.C. 15:1408. Prop, by the 

 If.-tubers and by division. 



4027. Aggregate fruit of Zamia 

 floridana. Cone not mature. 



