Common Name:

Synonym(s):

Genus species:

Family:

Zamiaceae

Form:

Size:

Life Span:

Long-lived perennial

Flower Color:

Fruit Color:

Phenology:

Noted For:

Recommended Uses:

Specimen plant or mass planting in border.

Considerations:

Grows slowly.

Seeds, foliage, and roots are toxic.

Availability:

Propagation:

Seed and root division

Light:

Moisture Tolerance:

Always Flooded------------------------------------------------Extremely Dry

Coming Soon!

Usually moist, occasional inundation ---to--- Very long very dry periods

Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:

Unknown

Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:

Some tolerance to salty wind but not direct salt spray

Soil or Other Substrate:

Sand

Soil pH:

Suitable to Grow In:

8A,8B,9A,9B,10A,10B,11

Wildlife:

Larval host for the rare atala butterfly ( Eumaeus atala florida ) which is restricted to South Florida and the echo moth ( Sierarctia echo ).  

Native Habitats:

Upland hardwood forests, high pine, coastal hammocks, shell middens.

Natural Range in Florida:

Visit the USF Libraries Atlas of Florida Plants

Ethnobotany:

Used by the Indians as a source of starch. Also for many years this starch was used in the making of Animal Crackers. Read more about this in 1995 Palmetto article by Roger Hammer: http://www.fnps.org/assets/pdf/palmetto/hammer_roger_l_the_coontie_and_the_atala_hairstreak_vol_15_no_4_winter_1995.pdf

General Comments:

Although palm-like in appearance, this is a cycad, a primitive group of non-flowering plants. It is listed as commercially exploited by the state of Florida.