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Cycads in Habitat


virtualpalm

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Since having been "hooked" on seeing cycads in their natural habitats, I have had the opportunity of visiting over 100 populations comprising 35 species in 5 countries. With this topic I intend to post a few of the nicer photos that I have taken over the years of some amazing plants. I welcome any and all additions from others who have also seen cycads in habitat.

I will begin with the genus Dioon:

This first photo is perhaps one of the most famous recent habitat shots -- which is of a giant Dioon mejiae in Honduras estimated to be approximately 1,200 years old.

dmejiae.jpg

Dioon spinulosum in Mexico (with Gaussia gomez-pompa).

dioonspinulosumgaussiagomezpompasmall2.jpg

Huge Dioon merolae in Chiapas, Mexico (made famous by Loran Whitelock).

giantdioonmerolae.jpg

Jody

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Three more species of Dioon:

Large Dioon purpusii in Oaxaca, Mexico.

dioonpurpusiiinhabitat.jpg

An undescribed species of Dioon in Oaxaca, Mexico.

giantdioonsp.jpg

Dioon sp. 'Cameron' in Oaxaca, Mexico.

dspelcamaron.jpg

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Final three Dioon species:

Dioon caputoi in Oaxaca, Mexico.

diooncaputoi.jpg

Dioon califanoi in Oaxaca, Mexico.

diooncalifanoiinhabitat.jpg

Dioon edule in Veracruz, Mexico.

diooneduleinhabitat.jpg

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Dear Jody Haynes  :)

thanks a lot for the visuals...i have never seen them before....!

And wish to see more... :)

thanks & love,

Kris  :)

By the way thanks for the i.d with each stills..one could learn a few varities from those lovely stills.

love conquers all..

43278.gif

.

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Jody,

     It's just amazing how big these plants get, where most people can't appreciate their size, age and beauty. I look forward to your Zamia's.

Jeff

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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Outstanding, Jody.  The 1200 yo D mejiae is a book cover shot.

Dioons are underappreciated as mixed with palms in landscapes.

Glenn

Modesto, California

 

Sunset Zone 14   USDA 9b

 

Low Temp. 19F/-7C 12-20-1990         

 

High Temp. 111F/43C 07-23-2006

 

Annual Average Precipitation 13.12 inches/yr.

 

             

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Wow. I was close. I estimated 1,199 years.

I find Dioon caputoi to be one of the least attractive Dioons. Yet it is one of the most expensive. Go figure.

Can't wait to see the others. :)

Len

Vista, CA (Zone 10a)

Shadowridge Area

"Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are."

-- Alfred Austin

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WOW.

I'll say that again.

WOW.

Ok, once more.

WOW.

I am gutted - I drove through Oaxaca and Chiapas in November in complete ignorance of these magnificent beauties.

'The Essex Riviera'

Southeast England, UK

winter min usually -5C

Summer max usually 35C

Rainfall usually 20" (500mm)

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Thank you all for your kind words regarding the habitat photos. Here are the Ceratozamia photos. I will then follow with the zamias. I should mention here that none of these photos may be used for any reason without explicit written permission from me. With that said, let's see some more plants in habitat...

Ceratozamia mexicana in Mexico:

ceratozamiamexicana.jpg

Ceratozamia norstogii in Mexico:

ceratozamianorstogii.jpg

Ceratozamia robusta in Mexico:

ceratozamiarobusta1.jpg

Undescribed Ceratozamia species in Honduras:

ceratozamiasp.jpg

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Jody,

  Dang ! This is getting better and better. Keep them coming.

Jeff

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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And here are the zamias that I have seen in habitat in four countries (including the U.S.). I have organized them mostly in alphabetical order, with the exception of the plicate-leafed species being grouped together and the three Honduran species being grouped. The photos will be spread across six separate posts.

Zamia acuminata (?) in Panama. The reason this has a question mark next to it is because there is some question as to which species is the "true" Z. acuminata -- the large one from Nicaragua or the small one from Panama.

zamiaacuminata.jpg

Zamia cunaria in Panama

zcunaria.jpg

New leaf on Zamia dressleri in Panama

zamiadressleri.jpg

Zamia lindleyi in Panama. Once again, there is some question as to whether or not this is a valid species or if this should be lumped into Z. chigua from Colombia. I am in favor of separating them.

zamialindleyi.jpg

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Zamia elegantissima in Panama

zelegantissima.jpg

An undescribed species that we refer to as Zamia sp. 'Blanco' in Panama; it is smaller than but related to Z. elegantissima.

zamiasp.jpg

Zamia floridana (coontie) in Fort Clinch State Park near Jacksonville, FL

fortclinchcoontie.jpg

Zamia furfuracea in Veracruz, Mexico

zamiafurfuracea.jpg

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This is Zamia hamannii, which is a newly described orange-emergent, plicate-leaved species from Panama (paper is in press -- coauthored by Dr. Alberto Taylor, University of Panama, me, and Greg Holzman in Hawaii). The man in the photo is Gregg Hamann, who discovered this species and who has so far funded three expeditions that have allowed us to continue our research on the plicate-leaved cycads of Panama.

zamiahamannii.jpg

Newley emergent leaves on Zamia imperialis (Panama) -- which is the name that we are giving to the plant formerly known as the "red-emergent skinneri" (which we determined actually had not yet been formally described)

zimperialis.jpg

And this is a large male plant representing the green-emergent populations of coastal mainland Bocas del Toro, Panama, to which we ascribe the name Zamia skinneri

zamiaskinneri.jpg

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Another one of the newly described plicate-leaved species, this one is also green-emergent and occurs on the islands of the Bocas del Toro region of Panama. Its name is Zamia nesophila, which means "island-loving."

zamianesophila2.jpg

Another photo of Zamia nesophila

zamianesophila.jpg

One of the other things that we have been able to do in our research is "rediscover" Zamia neurophyllidia in Panama. Up until this past January, we believed that Z. neurophyllidia may be nothing more than artificially dwarfed plants of Z. skinneri -- that is until we found plants with 1.5-2 meter tall stems!

zamianeurophyllidia.jpg

A small plant of Zamia neurophyllidia in Panama

zneurophyllidia_1.jpg

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This is Zamia obliqua in Panama, which I believe is one of the most elegant species of Zamia. It gets quite large, with stems growing well over your head. Unfortunately, I was unable to see any of the really large plants.

zamiaobliqua.jpg

Zamia pseudomonticola in Panama

zamiapseudomonticola2.jpg

Female cone of Zamia pseudomonticola in Panama

epseudomonticola.jpg

The infamous Zamia pseudoparasitica in Panama

zamiapseudoparasitica.jpg

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This is the last of my Zamia habitat photos.

Zamia spartea from Mexico growing in its typical habitat of tall grass -- in which it blends quite well

zamiaspartea.jpg

Zamia standleyi in Honduras; plants can have green- or brown-emergent leaves, even within the same population

zamiastandleyi.jpg

This is the cliff-dwelling species from Honduras, which was named Zamia sandovalii last year. Although it isn't much to look at in habitat, it is quite a nice species in cultivation (although it is VERY sensitive to cold temperatures).

zamiasandovalii.jpg

And finally, this is the undescribed arborescent Zamia species in Honduras, which is an extremely attractive plant both in habitat and in cultivation.

zamiasp_1.jpg

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I have one last habitat photo. This is Encephalartos transvenosus within the Modjadji Cycad Reserve in Limpopo Province, South Africa. In the photo, I am enjoying a cold beer with Douglas Goode, well-known cycad artist and author of Cycads of Africa. This is a magical place, and one in which anyone visiting South Africa should see.

etransvenosus.jpg

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Dear Jody Haynes  :)

so many types & varities of cycas,i have never seen all my life..thanks for the tour of that cycas heaven !  :)

wish to see more.... :)

lots of love,

Kris  :)

love conquers all..

43278.gif

.

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Kris, you are very welcome. For your information, Cycas is a genus of about 100 species of cycads that comprise the Family Cycadaceae. The other 200+ species of cycads occur in 10 other genera within the families Stangeriaceae (Bowenia and Stangeria) and Zamiaceae (Ceratozamia, Chigua, Dioon, Encephalartos, Lepidozamia, Macrozamia, Microcycas, and Zamia).

You can find more general information on cycads in my Virtual Cycad Encyclopedia website, located at the following URL: http://www.plantapalm.com/vce/vce_index.htm

Jody

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Dear Jody  :)

thanks for the lovely link ! and i must say its a honour to have you in our forum,since more & more plants experts joining this will inveriably help guys like me to learn more on the plant kingdom !  :)

lots of love to you,

Kris  :)

love conquers all..

43278.gif

.

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Jody,

     WOW! I just can't enjoy these habitat pictures enough. It brings back some old, very good memories from the few times I spent in Costa Rica and Panama. I'm glad I picked up 3 plants of this new specie, Z. hamannii at the sale last weekend, it looks beautiful.

Jeff

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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That first photo, of Dioon mejiae, is astounding.

Fla. climate center: 100-119 days>85 F
USDA 1990 hardiness zone 9B
Current USDA hardiness zone 10a
4 km inland from Indian River; 27º N (equivalent to Brisbane)

Central Orlando's urban heat island may be warmer than us

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Jody--

Awesome shots! Your passport must be awfully colorful too!

SoCal and SoFla; zone varies by location.

'Home is where the heart suitcase is'...

_____

"If, as they say, there truly is no rest for the wicked, how can the Devil's workshop be filled with idle hands?"

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Jody:

Gorgeous shots! Do you, perchance, have any pics of newly-emergent leaves of Zamia hammanii that you can share with us? I am interested to see how the color stacks up against the other two large bronze-red leaf spp. in Panamá.

Cheerio,

J

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Yummy.... those shots are, Jody

Please give us more.... and more, can't get enough of these Zamia , they are so hard to grow here in Portugal.

Charles Wychgel

Algarve/Portugal

Sunset zone 24

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Jody,

This thread rocks.  Unbelievable photos.   I wish I could grow any of those Zamia species in my climate.  I had no idea they looked that good.  I guess I'll just need to visit some of their homes!

Jason

Menlo Park, CA  (U.S.A.) hillside

Min. temp Jan 2007:  28.1 deg. F (-2.2 deg. C)

Min. temp winter 2008: 34.7 deg. F (1.5 deg. C)

USDA Zone 10A since 2000

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Jody,

Thank you for sharing your journeys with us. A view not many of us get to experience first hand.

Matt

Matt in Temecula, CA

Hot and dry in the summer, cold with light frost in the winter. Halfway between the desert and ocean

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Fanbloodytastic !

Michael in palm paradise,

Tully, wet tropics in Australia, over 4 meters of rain every year.

Home of the Golden Gumboot, its over 8m high , our record annual rainfall.

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(stone jaguar @ Mar. 25 2008,11:57)

QUOTE
Jody:

Gorgeous shots! Do you, perchance, have any pics of newly-emergent leaves of Zamia hammanii that you can share with us? I am interested to see how the color stacks up against the other two large bronze-red leaf spp. in Panamá.

Cheerio,

J

Ask and you shall receive:

zamiahamanni2.jpg

(Photo by Gregg Hamann 2003)

Enjoy!

Jody

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Oh man what beautiful photos of such amazing plants. The scale of the giant Dioon in post 1 is hard to believe and the emergent leaves of Zamia's are spectacular. I'm glad I'm still in the planning stages of my garden and will now include cycads which until now I had never seriously considered. Job well done!

Tim

Tim

Hilo, Hawaii

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Jody:

Thanks! Beautiful stuff, indeed. Now if someone could only come up with shots of wilding Z. wallisii of equivalent quality...

J

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With recent pictures, comes high risk down there. Very, very few people are willing to do this.

Jeff

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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Ironbark.jpg

My lone offering is sme type of Macrozamia growing near Batemans Bay NSW

Corymbia1.jpg

Philip Wright

Sydney southern suburbs

Frost-free within 20 km of coast

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Thank you Jody for sharing these wonderful habitat pictures!

Jeff

Jeff Rood

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(Gbarce @ Mar. 28 2008,06:49)

QUOTE
How long are you out in the mountains when you go out in these trips?

For me, it could be anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. Now that I have a "real" job, though, I am limited in my vacation time. This last time in Panama, I brought my wife with me -- which qualified as a family vacation AND a cycad trip!

Jody

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I know someone who has recently bought a mansion on a hilltop complete with many ancient enormous Lepidozamia hopei . Some have trunks over 10m , amazing that most are females and the area is covered in seedlings .

post-354-1206792604_thumb.jpg

Michael in palm paradise,

Tully, wet tropics in Australia, over 4 meters of rain every year.

Home of the Golden Gumboot, its over 8m high , our record annual rainfall.

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