Zamia furfuraceae L. f. ex Aiton | |
Zamiaceae | |
Cardboard Palm | |
| Botanical Name | Zamia furfuraceae L. f. ex Aiton |
| Synonyms | Zamia crassifolia Hort. Ex J. Schust. |
| Family | Zamiaceae |
| Common Name | English: Carboard Palm / Tamil: -- |
| Distribution | Global: Native to South America and Mexico. Introduced as ornamental in Tropic and subtropic countries. Indian: Throughout India |
| Description | Short tree grown up to 1m height, trunk subterranean marked with persistent leaf base. Leave compound, radiate form the centre of trunk, petiolate, 6-12 pairs of leaflets, extremely stiff, pubescent, ovate to oblong, toothed towards tip. Dioecious male and female cone produced in separate plant. Male cone - small, cluster, brown in colour, elongated, with sporangia on abacial side of compactly arranged microsporophyll. Female cone egg shaped, megasporophyll compactly arranged with single ovule. Seed orange in colour. Tree with very slow growth mostly horizontally spread in shade and grow erect in sunny places. Pollination by insects. |
| Flowering Fruiting period | September - December |
| Uses | A hardy ornamental plant with extremely slow growth |
| Medicinal Uses | No known medicinal uses. Poisonous to animal and humans. |
| Tamil Name | Cardboard Palm |