Ceratozamia Hildae Bamboo Cycad
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Cycad Focus:Focus Focus Ceratozamia hildae Bamboo Cycad Photos by Bart Schutzman (unless otherwise noted) Cultivation of eral are different All the species I have Ceratozamia hildae worked with have an extended receptivi- ty period ranging from as early as Janu- by Tom Broome ary to as late as June, with everything in eratozamia hildae is my favorite between This makes it a little harder to C landscape cycad here in Florida It has pinpoint the exact time for each plant I an upright habit that is different from have to check all my plants every two or most other cycads, which have more of a three days during a four month period to fountain form It can be grown in a small- make sure I havent missed anything er spot so it makes a great accent plant Ceratozamia hildae is a very attrac- in a larger landscape, but can also be a tive cycad and is easy to grow This plant specimen plant in a smaller landscape should be on every new collectors list of The leaflets are grouped in unique cycads to try out It can get to be seven bowtie-shaped clusters Typically the feet tall and grows rapidly compared Immature species has green-emergent leaves, but a with many cycads, which is very reward- microstrobilus few rare brown-emergent individuals ing for anyone new to rare cycads Photo by MBC exist in collections (which I find very attractive) This species is easily grown in all of Florida It reacts well to fertilizer appli- cations I have had four flushes of leaves in one year on several individuals in my nursery They also mature fairly fast; males mature in less that five years and females cone in five to six years I have found that a plant with a four-inch stem diameter can produce a cone Cera- tozamia hildae is best grown in partial shade A plant grown in full sun will actu- ally grow very fast, but never looks very good The sun seems to bleach out the Young seedlings of C hildae do not have fasciculated leaflets Megastrobilus leaves and makes them look yellow or burned If they are grown in deep shade, the leaves will look good, but plants will grow much slower and look a little thin Ceratozamias seem to prefer a little more water than some cycads, but as with other species, good drainage is just as important This species has an under- ground stem, so drainage is important if it is grown in a wet area Mounding may be needed if the ground is often saturat- ed This Ceratozamia is very cold hardy and should work well in any part of Flori- da I have known of plants in Florida that sustained no leaf damage after a freeze of 14F I have known of other plants in Texas that had no leaf damage at 12F Even with leaf damage, the plant should survive temperatures much lower than this because of the underground stem, but I have never heard of this species tried at temperatures below the low teens Most cycad species have a three to four week window each year when fe- male cones become receptive and male cones shed pollen Ceratozamias in gen- This well-grown plant is already highly branched Photo by Fe Almira The Cycad Newsletter Page 10 Phenology in Taxonomy & Nomenclature habitat data, and comparison to a nearby South Florida by Bart Schutzman species, C zaragozae The plants de- scribed by Landry and Wilson were origi- by Jody Haynes ftentimes by coincidence a species is nally brought from the wild in 1960 by Montgomery Botanical Center (MBC) O discovered and described by differ- Luciano Guerra, a well-known plant col- currently has 187 cycad taxa, 1,414 accessions, and 2,688 plants in our ent botanists within a short time of one lector, and were growing in Baton Rouge, ground collection, and at present, another When this happens, the botani- Louisiana in the garden of Dr Walter we collect monthly phenology data cal rule of nomenclatural priority applies; Harman (the founder of the Cycad Soci- on more than 1,500 plants the first validly published name for a ety; see his obituary in the Cycad News- lthough we have fewer than 20 species has priority over later names, letter 25[2]:11) The name C hildae was A plants of Ceratozamia hildae in the which are regarded as synonyms This derived from the latinized form of Hil- ground, we are able to report some can cause confusion when both names are da, the name of Mr Guerras daughter trends for this species as it grows in our being used in the horticultural trade The plant had been known by Cera- subtropical climate and limestone- This nearly happened in the case of Cera- tozamia Hilda informally in the horti- derived soils Plants flush twice and tozamia hildae The paper by Dr Andrew cultural trade since Guerras introduction rarely three times per year, primarily in P Vovides and John Rees describing the of the plant May and September (Fig A below) species (they were going to use the name In the trade, one can find plants Although there is some variation in C fasciculata) did not get to press be- labeled C hildae that are only sparingly flushing times, individual plants usually fore Garrie Landry and Marcia Wilsons fasciculated, ie, they dont have much exhibit cyclical flushes from year to year description came out in Brittonia in 1979 of the leaflet clustering that Tom Broome Male plants cone once and rarely twice Therefore, it was not used by horticultur- speaks of Many of us believe that this per year, usually beginning in February or al people and did not result in this kind species naturally hybridizes with another March (B) Pollen is then released of confusion The authors wisely decided Ceratozamia growing nearby, considered approximately one month after cone to cease publication of their paper, and by some to be C latifolia Only further emergence (C) Although our sample sizes instead in 1980 published Datos adicion- research will tell 1) what species the are small for female reproductive ales sobre Ceratozamia hildae Landry et other purported parent is, and 2) wheth- phenology, our data suggest that female Wilson, 1979 (Zamiaceae) in the Mexican er C hildae hybridizes with this nearby plants cone once per year in January- journal Biotica So a fine addendum to species or if the differences merely re- March, become receptive from April-July, the Landry and Wilson paper resulted, flect natural variation in C hildae and mature in February or March the with excellent illustrations (below), following year Rarely, a female plant may cone in September and produce mature seeds the following September A B C A-C Vegetative and reproductive phenology of Ceratozamia hildae at Montgomery Botanical Center, Miami, Florida Illustration of Ceratozamia hildae in Vovides & Rees 1980 paper The Cycad Newsletter Page 11 How the Scientific Description revising the genus was far from my be used in the publication Then came of C hildae came about capabilities Nevertheless, the exposure the time to choose a name for this new to all of the information I had species For the first time ever I will by Garrie Landry accumulated certainly suggested that reveal that my initial preference for a n 1975, my first year in graduate there were species known in horticulture name was not Ceratozamia hildae I I school, I knew I wanted to work with but unknown to science Yes, really wanted to be more innovative - my cycads in some capacity and began undescribed species of Ceratozamia! first preference was Ceratozamia looking at potential taxonomic projects Admittedly, the 1970s were ideal to bambusifolia I liked that name, and I was essentially on my own with minimal cultivate an interest in American cycads - after all, Ceratozamia Hilda was also guidance, as there were no true collected mature plants were readily referred to in the trade as the Bamboo cycadologists of that day to confer with available from many sources At times Cycad But I was out to solve a Initially my interest focused on these plants were so abundant in the nomenclatural problem and not create a Ceratozamia I relied heavily on my trade that one could expect to find new one Ultimately I realized that the advisor and friend, Dr Walter Harman, various Mexican genera and species at only people who actually knew and cared for suggestions and support for the ideas almost any nursery along the gulf coast about this unique cycad, the collectors I had about working with this genus Few people of that period seem to give and growers, knew it as Hilda To The project seemed feasible at first, much thought to the idea of conservation introduce a new name to an already for here was a genus that was confined of wild populations and to the constant widely known plant, I thought, would geographically to Mexico and Guatemala flow of collected plants across the have only complicated the matter The Furthermore, the number of known borders horticultural trade was filled with species appeared to be a reasonable one One species quickly became my common names, names handed down to pursue based on a preliminary search favorite, Ceratozamia Hilda, perhaps from importer to distributor and of the literature I familiarized myself because it was so unique among distributor to collector, and by the time with the then-known species of ceratozamias and because it was it reached the collector, any significance Ceratozamia and quickly discovered that unknown to science while well known in behind the name was almost certainly there were less than a dozen described horticulture When I first proposed lost I recall a perfect example, species, but so many horticultural names describing a species from horticultural Ceratozamia Thomas and Charlie It that the idea of resolving some of these material to Dr Harman and