''Macrozamia macdonnellii'', common name MacDonnell Ranges Cycad, is a species of

plant Plants are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic eukaryotes of the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all curr ...

in the family

Zamiaceae The Zamiaceae are a family of cycads that are superficially palm or fern-like. They are divided into two subfamilies with eight genera and about 150 species in the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Australia and North and South Americ ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Au ...

, Australia. ''Macrozamia macdonnellii'' is not eaten by the

Arrernte people The Arrernte () people, sometimes referred to as the Aranda, Arunta or Arrarnta, are a group of Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the Arrernte lands, at ''Mparntwe'' (Alice Springs) and surrounding areas of the Central Australia reg ...

of the Macdonnell Ranges due to the extensive process of toxin leaching that is required.

Description

''Macrozamia macdonnellii'' has large, frond-like

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, an ...

bluish-green leaves which radiate from the top of a stocky trunk. The male and female reproductive cones are on separate plants, with the female cone being broader than the male and partially enclosing seeds the size of an egg which have a bright red outer layer (

sarcotesta The sarcotesta is a fleshy seedcoat, a type of testa. Examples of seeds with a sarcotesta are pomegranate and some cycad seeds. The sarcotesta of pomegranate seeds consists of epidermal cells derived from the integument In biology, an integum ...

Taxonomy

It was first named ''Encephalartos macdonnellii'' by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vic ...

, and published by Miquel in ''Over de Cycadeen in Nieuw-Holland. Verslagen en Mededeelingen van de afdeeling Natuurkunde'' in 1863.Miquel, F.A.W. (1863) Over de Cycadeen in Nieuw-Holland. Verslagen en Mededeelingen van de afdeeling Natuurkunde, Koninklijk
Akademie van Wetenschappen 15: 376.
/ref> In 1868,

Alphonse Pyramus de Candolle Alphonse Louis Pierre Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (28 October 18064 April 1893) was a French-Swiss botanist, the son of the Swiss botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle. Biography De Candolle, son of Augustin Pyramus de Candolle, first devot ...

reassigned it to the genus, ''

Macrozamia ''Macrozamia'' is a genus of around forty species of cycads, family Zamiaceae, all of which are endemic to Australia. Many parts of the plant have been utilised for food and material, most of which is toxic if not processed correctly. Descript ...

'', thereby giving it the name, ''Macrozamia macdonnellii''.

References

External links

FloraNT Northern Territory Flora online: ''Macrozamia macdonnellii''.
macdonnellii Endemic flora of Australia Flora of Queensland Flora of the Northern Territory Cycadophyta of Australia Least concern flora of Australia Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Plants described in 1868 Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller {{Australia-plant-stub