What on earth is Cardboard Palm?

[Howeadypsis]

A fellow on a C&S site posted about some of his palms and one was a cardboard palm,and i'd never heard of such a plant! It has small pinnate leaves,strange! Is it a true palm or just something given the palm name like so many plants?

[The Germinator]

Its a mexican Cycad, I forget the name I think its Zamia furfuracea.

They are now common at DIY stores.

[calyptrocalyx&licuala freck]

(The Germinator @ Nov. 16 2007,04:29)

QUOTE

Its a mexican Cycad, I forget the name I think its Zamia furfuracea.

They are now common at DIY stores.

Spot on, they can form massive clumps

Mikey.

[palman]

Here in Florida they are easy to grow, yet slow

to medium growth is expected.

They are very easy to grow from seed and reach heights of 2 meters after 2 decades or more and

they clump all the while.

The resulting appearance is that of a shrub

or hedge one cannot walk through bue to the

density of the rigid fronds.

[www.dadluvsu.com]

I like to think of them as something to be removed to make room for something better.

[Jeff Searle]

(PiousPalms @ Nov. 16 2007,08:18)

QUOTE

I like to think of them as something to be removed to make room for something better.

Bill,

    Good come back. It's usually one of the first cycads someone plants when they get hooked into palms and cycads.

Jeff

[TikiRick]

I yank the seedlings out by the handful and then toss them out. This is one cycad that can become massive and unruly.

[FRITO]

wow didnt think it was such a pest down in south florida. I found a larger specimen here in town in a good micro climate.  a hundred feet or so away is a nice clump of pygmy date.

I would like to try this particlar species if anyone has seedling or seeds that they are dumping in the trash.

also they are supposed to be poisoness if digested(like many cycads) so keep them away from pets and kids.

~

[BS Man about Palms]

Hold on.   Small discrepancy here.  I know the "cardboard palm" as whats been posted too, BUT thats not what he describes in his post!

Reread his post.

Any other ideas?

[www.dadluvsu.com]

This is what we are talking about here, right?

[Kris]

Here is one still of that cycas,which was recently purschased in banglore..

[BS Man about Palms]

Thats what I know as the "cardboard palm".

I guess I wouldn't use "small pinnate leaves" to describe it. Then again, not sure what else to use either!

[Dave-Vero]

Kris, your Cycas looks like a Zamia!

[Alicehunter2000]

Frito, I had a very small one that got killed to the ground the first small freeze we had. I thought, boy that thing sure wasn't very hardy. Well darned if it didn't come back from the roots and seems to be growing slowly and steadily this summer. I still am unsure how much of zone 8b/9a it can take.....but planting it in a good microclimate it is worth a try. Lowe's or HD or Target garden center probably has them discounted now.

[www.dadluvsu.com]

(Alicehunter2000 @ Nov. 16 2007,15:50)

QUOTE

HD garden center probably has them discounted now.

And returnable within a year! :laugh:

[Howeadypsis]

Ah, I can see why one would call it a palm, it does look very, well, palmate!

Now the reason i said pinnate was cos this fellows was a seedling.

Heres a link to a pic of it:

http://thegardenforums.org/userpix/3204_plants_692_1.jpg

[Howeadypsis]

(TikiRick @ Nov. 16 2007,13:39)

QUOTE

I yank the seedlings out by the handful and then toss them out. This is one cycad that can become massive and unruly.

Well, I wish I lived nearby cos I'd take one or two off your hands!

[glbower]

Here's a pic showing a couple of mature ones next to my Dypsis decaryi. They do look good around some palms, including this triangle. Behind the Zamias, I have a juvenile Copernicia prunifera, which also has kind of a Jurassic look. Zamias do take up a lot of room and seedlings sprout all over the place. These two are candidates to be replaced by palms

[Kris]

(Dave-Vero @ Nov. 16 2007,13:46)

QUOTE

Kris, your Cycas looks like a Zamia!

Dear Dave  

Yes,its a Zamia furfuracea cycas purschased from the lalbagh nursery in banglore..

Love,

Kris  

[Mark@PalmBeach]

Geez, this poor plant is getting a bad wrap. It is certainly not ugly, I just think with age they need to be thinned out so that you can see more of its  form. used in the right way they have a place in the garden. Not everything has to be "rare" to be enjoyed. Just my two cents worth.....

[Scott]

Gordon - nice array with the Zamias flanking the decaryi!

[glbower]

Scott -- My original plan was to have three Zamias around the triangle; you can see the third one just behind it. But I'm running out of space for palms, so I replaced the small Zamia in back with a Hyphaene. With two Zamias, the triangle, the Hyphaene, the Copernicia prunifera and the Caryota urens at left, I call this my Jurassic section. Everything there has that primitive look.

[ruskinPalms]

I actaully like these little guys. I had no idea they turned into a clump. Actually, I have no cycads in my yard.... I probably should not even go there or else I will be dealing with another addiction  

[Guest Lucinda]

"Common" or not, I like these. They look nice at the base of my royals, are non- tempermental and hardy (zone 10-a). Haven't seen any in Lowe's or HD in years.

The seeds form in a vivid red cone toward the end of the year. Just cut the cone off before seeds begin falling and the plant will not spread.

[Xavierdlc61887]

anyone that doesnt want them please send them to in a flatrate box as many asit will fid and ill pay the shipping....

[aussiearoids]

I think they look best when given a total prune before each years flush .

[Charles Wychgel]

Here is what they look like in their habitat, the sand dunes of Alvarado in Vercruz,Mexico.

Photo taken on a cycad tour through Mexico with Jeff Chemnick this month.

[palmmermaid]

I love these Zamias!  I think the new name is Z. maritima instead of Z. furferacea.  I have a large bed of them surrounding my D. furferacea.  While I do have seedlings coming up in several places, I don't mind.  I am using some of them to plant in pots and sell and some to plant along the canal bank we just cleared of Australian pines, Brazilian pepper, and melaleuca.  They are really carefree.