''Zamia imbricata'' is a species of

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

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 America. ...

described in 2021. The stem is subterranean, the leaves have overlapping leaflets, and the reproductive cones are held on very long stalks. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

is tropical

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. It is very rare, and the known population does not appear to be successfully reproducing.

Classification

''Z. imbricata'' was described and named in 2021 by Michael Calonje and Jonatan Castro Hernandéz, based on the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

found in 2020 in

La Dorada, Caldas La Dorada () is a town and municipality in the Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainla ...

, Colombia. Additional specimens (

paratype In zoology and botany, a paratype is a specimen of an organism that helps define what the scientific name of a species and other taxon actually represents, but it is not the holotype (and in botany is also neither an isotype (biology), isotype ...

s) also found in

Caldas Department Caldas () is a departments of Colombia, department of Colombia named after Colombian patriotic figure Francisco José de Caldas. It is part of the Paisa Region and its capital is Manizales. The population of Caldas is 998,255, and its area is 7, ...

were considered in the description. The specific name ''imbricata'' is from the Latin ''imbricatus'' ("covered with tiles"), referring to the overlapping leaflets. ''Z. imbricata'' is a member of the Manicata clade.

Description

The stem of ''Z. imbricata'' is subterranean, long and in diameter. There are one to five leaves at the apex of the stem. The leaves are long and wide, emerging covered with white to tan hairs which are lost as the leaves mature. Leaf stalks are long, ochre to olive-green in color, rarely with a few small prickles. The

axes Axes, plural of ''axe'' and of ''axis'', may refer to * ''Axes'' (album), a 2005 rock album by the British band Electrelane * a possibly still empty plot (graphics) See also * Axis (disambiguation) An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics ...

of the leaves are long, also ochre to olive-green in color. There are 6 to 110 leaflets per leaf, overlapping to form a flat leaf surface. Leaflets are

lanceolate The following terms are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade ...

, dark green, and dull to semi-glossy, with toothed edges. Leaflets in the middle of the leaf are long and wide. As with all ''Zamia'', ''Z. imbricata'' is

dioecious Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...

, with individual plants being either male or female. Pollen (male)

strobili A strobilus (: strobili) is a structure present on many land plant species consisting of sporangia-bearing structures densely aggregated along a stem. Strobili are often called cones, but some botanists restrict the use of the term cone to the woo ...

(cones) are light reddish-brown, conical-cylindrical, long, and in diameter. One or two male strobili appear at one time on a plant, on olive-brown peduncles (stalks) that are long and in diameter. Ovulate (female) strobili are reddish-brown to brown, cylindrical, long, and in diameter. Only one female strobilus appears on a plant at a time, on an olive-green peduncle, covered with white hair, that is long by in diameter. Seeds are ovoid, long and thick, and have an orange-red

sarcotesta The sarcotesta is a fleshy seedcoat, a type of testa. Examples of seeds with a sarcotesta are pomegranate, ginkgo ''Ginkgo'' is a genus of non-flowering seed plants, assigned to the gymnosperms. The scientific name is also used as the Eng ...

Habitat

''Z. imbricata'' is found in

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are dense and warm rainforests with high rainfall typically found between 10° north and south of the Equator. They are a subset of the tropical forest biome that occurs roughly within the 28° latitudes (in the torrid zo ...

of the

Magdalena–Urabá moist forests The Magdalena–Urabá moist forests (NT0137) is an ecoregion in the north of Colombia. The terrain is largely flat or undulating, but includes mountainous areas in the south. It contains moist forests and large wetlands that are important to resi ...

ecoregion in northern Columbia, on steep slopes between elevation. It grows in well-drained sandy, acidic soils. '' Zamia incognita'' also occurs in the same area, but there is no evidence of hybridization between the two species. As of 2020, only 15 plants of ''Z. imbricata'' had been found. Fertilization appears to be infrequent, and seed production very low. No seedlings of ''Z. imbricata'' were observed in the study area. The describing authorities have recommended that it be classified as

Critically Endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

, but the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has not yet evaluated it.

References

Sources

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q131143317 imbricata Endemic flora of Colombia Plants described in 2021