Coontie (MatBio: HERBS OF FOREST & FIELD - Matanzas Biodiversity)

Coontie

Zamia pumila

Summary ⁷

Zamia pumila, or Coontie, is a small, tough, woody cycad of the West Indies and Cuba. Zamia pumila was the first species described for the genus and hence is the type species for the genus Zamia and the family Zamiaceae.

Distribution ⁸

Zamia pumila is found primarily in Florida, the southeastern coast of Georgia, the Greater Antilles, the northern Bahamas (Walters & Decker-Walters, 1991: 436), central Cuba and the Dominican Republic (Stevenson, 2010). In addition, it been discovered in parts of Southern Puerto Rico and Haiti, but due to human land use, the plant has since been wiped out in certain areas of these regions because of habitat loss (Stevenson, 2010).

References

Chiappini, D. 2007. Propagation protocol for the native cycad coontie (Zamia pumila L.). Native Plants Journal 8: 123-124.

Stevenson, D.W. 2010. Zamia pumila. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species; available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/42177/0 /; accessed on Oct 12, 2012.