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Species of the Day: Zamia inermis

Zamia inermis is listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM. This cycad is endemic to central Veracruz, Mexico, and is known only from one mountain range. There are estimated to be between 300 and 500 individuals remaining in its natural habitat, covering a relatively small area of less than 5 km2.

The habitat of Zamia inermis has deteriorated over the last decades due to deforestation for Geographical range cattle grazing. Forest fires and insecticide use in adjacent sugarcane plantations have also www.iucnredlist.org drastically reduced its beetle pollinator population, resulting in poor recruitment of individuals. www.cycadsg.org Illegal collecting has been occurring since before the species was first described in 1983. In Help Save Species its habitat, the species propagates by natural crown breakage, when the crown roots a small www.arkive.org distance away from the main stem, which then forms a new crown. Crowns of very old multi- headed plants in cultivation have also been known to break off the main stem.

There is no formal protection for this species. Efforts are being made to conserve the remaining population and to propagate Zamia inermis in an in-situ nursery by artificial pollination.

The production of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ is made possible through the IUCN Red List Partnership: Species of the Day IUCN (including the Species Survival Commission), BirdLife is sponsored by International, Conservation International, NatureServe and Zoological Society of London.