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I celebrate learning this about cycad plants

I didn't know that the cardboard palm - Zamia furfuracea - is a cycad. It isn't a palm tree (don't judge me, I'm not a botanist). But it also doesn't look like the other more familiar types of cycads with their fluted upright palm-like fronds. I didn't know it is said to be the second most commonly cultivated cycad, after Cycas revoluta. I didn't know this plant is unrelated to the common ZZ plant - Zamioculcas zamifolia - although they have a similar appearance. Before today I didn't know any of these things, but now I am happy to have learned them.

From the parking lot I walked to the U of M Conservatory greenhouse in near-zero F weather. Stepping into the tropical spaces was a joy of its own. But being able to learn new information and experience new procedures was a compounding factor. Joy squared.

During my 3-hour volunteer shift, my initial task was to clean the parasite critters (mealybugs and scale) from the stems and leaves of the cycad, Zamia furfuracea. I used a spray of very dilute dish-detergent and a long-handled toilet bowl brush to reach the deep crevices and along spiney stems. The leaves have the texture of cardboard, but with fuzzy surfaces. The mealybugs tend to congregate at the joints between the leaflets and the rib of the leaf. Scale insects attach themselves anywhere on the leaflet surfaces, like little brown suction cups.

A native of Mexico, Z. furfuracea is slow-growing and likes full sun and well-drained sandy soil. At maturity, it looks like a bush measuring 1 meter in height and 2 meters in diameter. Male and female cones occur on separate plants. All parts of the plant produce paralyzing neurotoxin, cycasin, which is poisonous to animals and humans. There is no known antidote.

Z. furfuracea, species named after fuzzy leaves with a texture like cardboard

These plants have either male or female cones (dioecious). The seeds are bright red and resemble pine nuts. All parts of the plant are poisonous to animals and humans.

Leaf scars decorate the short trunk and provide an interesting texture




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