Zamia gentryi in its habitat

[Sim01]

Hi,

As some of you might know, I'm currently doing an internship in Ecuador and I dedicate my free time to botanical exploration. I got the opportunity to go to the north of a country with two friends fond of orchids. It was a great chance for me to go and have a look at Zamia gentryi in its natural habitat.

This is a very nice species, I really love the huge leave and I am happy to see it is still there, in its natural habitat.

My friend José, not as amazed as I am seeing the first plant we encounteered after 40 minutes in the jungle...

The first plant we saw was a female with a strobilus (the seeds were not ripe). The plants are very difficult to spot because of the low plant density, the heavy shade and the presence of many other plants looking like it from far (palms and tree ferns). The one with emerging leave were easier to see though.

[Sim01]

[Sim01]

Seedling

[Sim01]

[Sim01]

It was a great experience to see them and to know they are still here.

Best

Simon

[XYZ]

Simon:

Thank you for posting these photos. Great to see these images of plants in situ. I grow a lot of these in Guatemala and find them to be quite easy to cultivate and somewhat more cold and sun-tolerant than many of the more showy Panamanian grooved-leaf zamias. New leaves really are gorgeous in life, aren't they?

BTW - this species was originally thought to be the second epiphytic Zamia spp., since an early collection was found growing up in a tree. As you show, this was since found to be just a quirk occurence.

Cheers,

Jay

[EllisB]

Beautiful pictures. Enjoy the beautiful landscape that is Ecuador.

[BS Man about Palms]

[Sim01]

Simon:

Thank you for posting these photos. Great to see these images of plants in situ. I grow a lot of these in Guatemala and find them to be quite easy to cultivate and somewhat more cold and sun-tolerant than many of the more showy Panamanian grooved-leaf zamias. New leaves really are gorgeous in life, aren't they?

BTW - this species was originally thought to be the second epiphytic Zamia spp., since an early collection was found growing up in a tree. As you show, this was since found to be just a quirk occurence.

Cheers,

Jay

Is the publication mentioning at which height was the plant found? I have not seen any plants growing on trees but I guess it would be possible in theory. It might occur but rarely I think.

I am sure some birds or bats are carrying the seeds as I have found 2 Zamia roezlii seedlings isolated on the top of a mountain without any other Zamia occuring in the area.

I guess they are more sun hardy, I guess like Zamia roezlii. To me, they are still much more beautiful in shade with huge leave than in full sun with small compact leaves but its a question of personal taste.

Simon

[George Sparkman]

Thank You Simon for posting this.

Great habitat photos !

[aussiearoids]

Thanks Simon .

[XYZ]

Simon:

I have found instances where individuals of Zamia tuerckheimii and Z. sp. "Blanco" had grown as accidental epiphytes in trees so this is really not that unusual. What happened is that - I believe - Z. gentryi was first discovered growing in a tree and that only subsequent collections revealed it to be terrestrial.

Attached some images taken several years back of some of our plants growing in Guatemala.

Cheers,

J

[Moose]

My favorite cycad genus. The habitat photos are amazing!!!

[Jeff Searle]

Thanks for all the great habitat photos. Zamias rock!

[Dave-Vero]

I think the Cycad Society might like like a photo story for The Cycad Newsletter. Contact Bart Schutzman at the University of Florida, cycad(at)iras.ufl.edu

[bencpa711]

First, let me say I am neither a botanist or scientist. I am a cycad enthusiast and have many many cycads, including natives, in my home garden in South Florida. Having said that: In a landscaped setting, I believe I may have identified a single specimen of Zamia gentryi at the relatively new Mashpi Lodge in NW Ecuador nearest the villages of Pacto and Gualea, which are NW of Quito on the opposite side of the Pichincha volcanic mountains, 3 hours outside northern Quito. The plant, which sits in a garden next to a rear service road at the lodge, just outside the glass walls of its dining room, bar, and some of its rooms, seems to contain the characters contained in Whitelock's "The Cycads (Timber Press, 2002, pp. 304-5) Its leaflets are clear plicate or pleated ("longitudinal veins sunken, giving the leaf a corrugated appearance"). The location is within the book's elevation range, although it is no doubt intentionally planted there. The plant has at least 5 leaves ("5-9") and 36 leaflets on the latest emerging leaves (number not specified in Whitelock), with no apparent terminal leaflet ("leaflets opposite or subopposite"). The leaflets are clearly lanceolate, as I understand the term. There were no cones or visible stem or trunk I could see. No one at the lodge could tell me where the plant came from, though I know their emphasis on plants of the Mashpi forest, so I suspect it was collected on the 3,000 acres of the property. However, I never saw a single natural planting of this cycad during the 5 days my wife and I were hiking their trails (8 hikes in all, including night walks), accompanied by guides who knew my interest in cycads after I had spotted the landscaped plant the first or second day I was there. From the Whitelock description of habitat, I suspect this plant may be outside its known natural range, but for my skepticism as to any such plant being brought in from outside this eco-lodge, making me wonder if it isn't native here. This is wet cloud forest which seems to be a location this plant comes from, albeit nearer the Pacific coast in Esmeraldas. Perhaps it is worth considering if the plant comes from this lodge's extensive property and the adjacent extensive forests. I have attached photographs of the plant.

[Jeff Searle]

Some very interesting information you just shared. And welcome to PalmTalk.

Thanks, Jeff

[Sim01]

Hello,

It might just be a young Zamia roezlii, I have seen plants of this species in gardens in Guayaquil and Tena. I also saw a Zamia lindenii in a hotel garden in Tena (which is located on the amazonian side of the Andes, Z. lindenii being from the pacific side), so the plant was obvioulsy brought from the pacific side to this place. Sometimes, people just find cycads pretty and move them to their place. I have seen several cycads out of their natural range in different countries, and it is not because it is a poor country nor a country in which people aren't interested in ornamental plants that none will move a plant hundred kilometers away to have it in his garden.

If you had seen several similar plants in different gardens, then maybe there would have been more chances for the species to occur naturally there. Anyway, that doesn't mean cycads do not occur in this area, they sometimes grow within very small ranges so you may miss them only from a few kilometers. Z. gentryii has been poorly studied so that its actual range isn't known.

In the end, it could be Z. gentryii but could also be Z. roezlii (that is much more comonly grown in gardens), it could be a native cycads but as it's only one individual in the garden and that no other plant was spotted, we may suppose that it comes from somewhere else. And without cones it isn't easy to tell which species it belongs to.

Hope this helps

Simon

[bencpa711]

Thank you for the welcome, Jeff. I have been to your nursery a few times over the years and fondly remember the days of the Broward County Palm (& Cycad?) Society you led for a few years, as well as buy from you a few times at the FTG palm sales through the 90s and early 2000s. I am going to email the lodge and see if the operations manager can track down the history of this particular (and only) cycad planting. One of our guides for our 8 hikes (only over prepared trails, not ever into the "boonies") over 5 days was with the lodge property from the beginning, before there was a lodge, and is from the area. However, I do not speak Spanish and had to talk to him through our other guide, who did speak English. Perhaps I can get a message through. This particular local guide also had a lot to do with the development of all the trails we hiked, one of which was named after him. He was particularly interested in my interest in the Zamia and one day during a bird watch on the 3rd floor terrace, had me write down the genus names Zamia and Ceratozamia for him (after passing his request through our other guide, who was present). Of course, it is possible that this plant was imported from elsewhere, but having learned about the history of this property which is as unlike any other eco-resort as I have ever seen, and in particular because of the reported interests of the owner--native orchids--my instinct (though not necessarily good sense) tells me it came from the property somewhere. I do know there were some exotic plants here (Red Banana, Etlingera, other Zingiberaceae, etc., particularly at the hummingbird/bird feeder area about a half mile-to-mile away from the lodge by road, and others at the Mariposa or butterfly area about a mile away by trail) And of course I suppose the plant could be Z. roezli (though I do not think Z. lindenii). However, given my disclaimer I am not a botanist, only an enthusiast, again, according to Whitelock, Z. roezlii has 10-16 leaves, way more than this plant; but then, reozlii is known to be similar, including "pleated" leaves, also lanceolate. The lodge's Zamia looked like a mature (not old) plant. There were no new leaves, therefore red was not in the picture for such, but both plants apparently have reddish new leaves. I will report back what I learn from Mashpi. We were at Mashpi less than two weeks ago for the Christmas holidays, and would return in a NY minute. It is isolated and beautiful, and a masterpiece of resort development, with protection of the environment and cloudforest paramount. No one gets to wander here, which is fine with me. You are always escorted (guided). I will let Palm Talk know what I find out from the lodge about the known history of the plant.

[edbrown_III]

wow I gotta get down there and see this in habitat --- I took Jeffs tour through Chiapas and saw so much

what a site

Thanks for sharing

Ed