Zamia skinneri complex

[virtualpalm]

Fellow cycad aficionados,

My colleagues and I have been studying the Zamia skinneri complex in the field in Panama for the past four years. Our paper that resulted from this research was recently published in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. In it, we summarize the current status of botanical knowledge of the arborescent plicate-leaved zamias of Central America, provide a critical re-characterization of Z. skinneri and Z. neurophyllidia, describe three new Panamanian endemics within the complex, and offer a hypothesis on the biogeography and evolution of the group. If you are interested in reading the entire paper, you can download/print it here:

http://www.cycadconservation.org/publicati...ex-BOJ-2008.pdf

We welcome any comments.

Jody

[Mike4284m]

Thanks for the link. Hopefully I'll have some time to sneak away from the festivities and read it.

[LJG]

I know all these are tropical Zamias. But I did notice Zamia neurophyllidia seems to be found in mountain areas on the Divide. Any idea what elevation or should I just give up and realize this is a greenhouse plant for SoCal guys?

A lot of time and effort went into this. It seems Zamias are more readily available for purchase from growers. Why are Ceratozamia's much more difficult to find. For example - Ceratozamia euryphyllidia, mixeorum, miqueliana for example. Simply less distribution, harder to get to, less of an interest from guys like you?

You coming out with a Zamia poster like your Dioon and Cerat one?

[MattyB]

I don't know anything about these plants, but that pic of that large Z. skinneri is absolutely mind blowing!!!!!! Thanks.

[freakypalmguy]

Very nice Jody. I just got done perusing the whole paper (a lot went over my head) and was impressed. Great pictures along with the information. I agree with Matty, the picture of the Z. skinneri is an eye popper. Thanks for the link.

Matt

[Jeff Searle]

Jody,

Congratulations on all the work putting these papers together. It's still somewhat confusing,though. Maybe in "09" you can come by the house and try to put some names on some of these plants.

Jeff

[aussiearoids]

one of several similar flushes at a mates place , think they are in this complex, can't wait for seedlings to become available here down under .

[Gbarce]

wow - another plant that I have added to my "must have" list.

[virtualpalm]

I know all these are tropical Zamias. But I did notice Zamia neurophyllidia seems to be found in mountain areas on the Divide. Any idea what elevation or should I just give up and realize this is a greenhouse plant for SoCal guys?

A lot of time and effort went into this. It seems Zamias are more readily available for purchase from growers. Why are Ceratozamia's much more difficult to find. For example - Ceratozamia euryphyllidia, mixeorum, miqueliana for example. Simply less distribution, harder to get to, less of an interest from guys like you?

You coming out with a Zamia poster like your Dioon and Cerat one?

Len,

Unfortunately, I think Z. neurophyllidia and all the other tropical zamias are going to be greenhouse plants in southern CA.

As for the relative unavailability of ceratozamias, there are two main reasons. First, most of the species occur in Mexico and it is difficult to get permits to collect seed in that country. Second, all species of Ceratozamia are on CITES App. I, which magnifies the level of difficulty in obtaining the proper permits by many times (conversely, all species of Zamia are CITES App. II and the seeds are not covered at all by CITES).

Finally, we have considered doing a Zamia poster, but that is going to take a lot of work since there are so many more species than Ceratozamia and Dioon.

Jody

[virtualpalm]

Jody,

Congratulations on all the work putting these papers together. It's still somewhat confusing,though. Maybe in "09" you can come by the house and try to put some names on some of these plants.

Jeff

Hey Jeff. One thing that you (and everyone) must always keep in mind when trying to put a name on a plant in cultivation is that plants do not always look the same in cultivation as they do in habitat. In many cases, the actual location that a plant is found in habitat is a determining factor with regard to the ease of identification of a particular species. To make matters worse, the mainland plants in coastal Bocas del Toro are somewhat variable and may actually represent a hybrid swarm or a zone of intergradation... which really can only be adequately addressed with a molecular approach (which we would like to do at some point). With that said, I would love to come and see your plants and try to put names to them.

Jody

[virtualpalm]

one of several similar flushes at a mates place , think they are in this complex, can't wait for seedlings to become available here down under .

Judging by the emergent color and the overall shape of the leaflets, I would guess this is our newly described Zamia imperialis (formerly known as 'red-emergent skinneri).

Jody

[Dave-Vero]

In this age of overabundant images, it's easy to forget that illustrations in a serious scientific paper such as this will be extremely useful to future generations of biologists and cycad enthusiasts. And I mean "future generations". High quality natural history gets better as it ages. Congratulations to the authors and the Linnaean Society journal.