Zamia pseudoparasitica is a species of plant in the family Zamiaceae. It is endemic to Panama.
Habitat Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests on the Atlantic side of the isthmus. It is threatened by habitat loss.2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 24 August 2007.Schuster, Julius. 1932. Das Pflanzenreich (Engler) [Heft 99] 4, Fam. 1: 142, as Zamia pseudoparasitica var. latifoliaCorrea A., M.D., C. Galdames & M. Stapf. 2004. Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares de Panamá 1–599. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, PanamaStevenson, D. W. 1993. The Zamiaceae in Panama with comments on phytogeography and species relationships. Brittonia 45(1): 1–16.
Description Zamia pseudoparasitica is the only known species of Zamia that is epiphytic. Furthermore, it is the only known obligate epiphytic gymnosperm. growing on the branches of forest trees. It has a very short trunk but long leaves over 3 m long. The seeds are orange.
The root system can be very long and may reach and root in the ground in some cases. Taproots of 15 m in length have been documented.Alberto S. Taylor B., Jorge Mendieta, Ronald Bernal, and Gaspar Silvera. (2008). "Strange but True A Never-Before-Reported Characteristic of Zamia pseudoparasitica." The Cycad Newsletter, 31, 8–9.
Cytology The diploid chromosome count of Zamia pseudoparasitica is 2n = 16.Caputo, P., Cozzolino, S., Gaudio, L., Moretti, A., & Stevenson, D. W. (1996). Karyology and Phylogeny of Some Mesoamerican Species of Zamia (Zamiaceae). American Journal of Botany, 83(11), 1513–1520. https://doi.org/10.2307/2446105Moretti, A., & Sabato, S. (1984). Karyotype Evolution by Centromeric Fission in Zamia (Cycadales). Plant Systematics and Evolution, 146(3/4), 215–223. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23671504
Ecology Pollination The beetle Notorhopalotria taylori appears to be the main pollinator of Zamia pseudoparasitica. The beetle lives in the male cones of Zamia pseudoparasitica.O'Brien, Charles & Tang, William. (2015). Revision of the New World cycad weevils of the subtribe Allocorynina, with description of two new genera and three new subgenera (Coleoptera: Belidae: Oxycoryninae). Zootaxa. 3970. 1-87. 10.11646/zootaxa.3970.1.1. Seed dispersal The seeds are thought to be disseminated by northern olingo,Monteza-Moreno, C. M., Rodriguez-Castro, L., Castillo-Caballero, P. L., Toribio, E., & Saltonstall, K. (2022). Arboreal camera trapping sheds light on seed dispersal of the world's only epiphytic gymnosperm: Zamia pseudoparasitica. Ecology and Evolution, 12, e8769.Leila Nilipour, Caught red handed: The mystery of an unusual Panamanian plant's dispersal, Smithsonian Tropical Research InstituteToucans, or potentially by fruit-eating bats.
Conservation Primary forest is an important habitat for this species, as it has been unable to re-colonize secondary forests within a timeframe of 50 years.Bell-Doyon, Philip & Villarreal A., Juan. (2020). "New Notes on the Ecology of the Epiphytic Gymnosperm and Panamanian Endemic Zamia pseudoparasitica" Board of Editors. 2. 1-7.
Horticulture Some attempts have been made to bring the plant into cultivation as a plant to be grown in a hanging basket, with some degree of success.Seemann, Berthold Carl. 1854. Botany of the Voyage of H.M.S. ~Herald~ 2: 202, 253, Zamia pseudoparasiticaKuntze, Carl Ernst Otto. 1891. Revisio Generum Plantarum: vascularium omnium atque cellularium multarum secundum leges nomeclaturae internationales cum enumeratione plantarum exoticarum in itinere mundi collectarum ... Leipzig 2: 803, as Palmifolium pseudoparasiticumStevenson, D. W., R. Osborne & J. Hendricks. 1990. A world list of cycads. Memoirs of The New York Botanical Garden 57: 200–206. Watering should be done with soft, slightly acidic water. The substrate, which may be composed of coco chips, bark, moss, and anorganic materials like pumice and perlite, should be kept moist and should not dry out completely.Lavaud, S. (2023, May 25). Zamia pseudoparasitica care sheet. Cycadales. Retrieved July 17, 2023, from https://cycadales.eu/2023/05/25/zamia-pseudoparasitica-care-sheet/?lang=en
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