The Gymnosperm Database

map

Distribution of Ceratozamia species (redrawn from Jones 1993).

 

Valid HTML 4.01 Transitional

Ceratozamia matudae

Lundell 1939

Common names

Taxonomic notes

"Described ... from material collected on Mt Ovando in Chiapas, Mexico. ... The spelling of the specific epithet used in the original description (matudai) is incorrect according to botanical rules" (Jones 1993).

Description

"A small cycad which in nature develops a slender trunk to 50 cm tall and 20 cm across. Mature leaves 0.7-1.2 m long, green to somewhat yellowish green, smooth, glabrous; petiole 20-35 cm long. swollen and densely woolly at the base, with few to numerous short, stout prickles; leaflets forty-six to eighty-eight on each leaf, 20-40 cm × 0.6-1.5 cm, linear-lanceolate, sessile, leathery, green to yellowish green and shiny above, paler beneath, apex long acuminate. Male cones 8-16 cm × 3-4.5 cm, cylindrical; sporophylls 1-2.1 cm × 8-11 mm, bearing two horns to 4 mm long; peduncle to 11 cm long, covered with small red scales and woolly at the base. Female cones 12-15 cm × 8-9 cm, ellipsoid; sporophylls 3-3.5 cm × 1.5-1.8 cm, with two prominent spreading horns 1.5-4 mm long; peduncle to 22 cm long, hairy. Seeds 2.5-3 cm × 2-2.3 cm, obovoid, smooth." (Jones 1993).

"[S]imilar to C. kuesteriana but can be distinguished by the numerous, stout prickles on the petiole and rhachis" (Jones 1993).

Distribution and Ecology

E Guatemala and Mexico: SW Chiapas, Oaxaca. Found in broadleaf cloud forests at about 1000 m elevation (Jones 1993).

Remarkable Specimens

No data as of 2023.03.03.

Ethnobotany

Used as an ornamental (Jones 1993).

Observations

Remarks

Named after Eizi Matuda, the original collector (Jones 1993).

See also

Whitelock (2002).

Last Modified 2023-03-03