Zamia monticola

[Melanie]

sebbe67 said:

Historical notes: Of particular frustration has been repeated unsuccessful attempts over the past 70 years to relocate Zamia monticola which Chamberlain described in 1926 as being from a single seed he collected in 1906 in Veracruz, Mexico "on the steep mountain side about six or eight miles west of Jalapa, opposite the extinct crater of Naolinco". Chamberlain went on to note that he had collected many seeds of Ceratozamia mexicana but had not seen a single Zamia plant in the vicinity and that the single Zamia monticola seedling appeared among seedlings of C. mexicana. This coupled with the failure to relocate the species in Mexico lead to the conclusion that the species is either extinct or that Chamberlain's seeds became mixed in the glasshouse and that the seed ascribed to Z. monticola is either from Central America or somehow a variant of Z. muricata. Recent collections of Zamia from Guatemala by H. Förtner (2621/592) are unequivocally Z. monticola. The foliage matches the type material of Z. monticola and, moreover, the male cone is identical to the male cone pickled by Chamberlain and sent to the New York Botanical Garden where the original label in Chamberlain's handwriting is still in the bottle. Thus, Z. monticola is extant and living in Guatemala and the puzzle is solved.

Distinguishing features: Zamia monticola is easily recognized by its unusual long, upturned, leaflet tips combined with their chartaceous to papryaceous texture and few indistinct marginal teeth at the apex.

Distribution and habitat: Zamia monticola is endemic to rocky lowland slopes in primary and secondary rain forests of Guatemala.

Conservation: Having only been recently discovered there it is difficult to assess its status. Although this population contains many plants and seedlings, no ovulate cones were seen. Zamia monticola is listed by the 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants as Ex,II,Ex for Mexico. This is because it was thought to be from Mexico though we now know it is from Guatemala. It should be considered extremely rare and threatened until more is known about population numbers and sizes.

original source: extinctanimals.proboards22.com/index.cgi?board=plants&action=post&thread=1132136132"e=1132136132

[Melanie]

sebbe67 said:

plantnet.rbgsyd.gov.au/PlantNet/cycad/images/Zamia_monticola_0.jpg


photo

original source: extinctanimals.proboards22.com/index.cgi?board=plants&action=post&thread=1132136132"e=1132136239

[Melanie]

melanie said:

probably invalid. Message from another forum:

I saw your question about this species on the cycad list. Chances are this was never a good species. Chaimberlain had a lot of plants in his growing area and after several years found a single seedling of a zamia that he assumed came from Mexico. He described the plant from his single seedling, which is not very good taxonomy. The plant looks a lot like a narrow leaf form of Z. turkeimii which comes from Guatamala, but who knows what the plant is. He assumed it came from this old volcano in Mexico, but after several years it is hard to say whether that was correct or not. It is hard to say what the real situation is, but the plant that he described has never been seen in the location where he said it came from, but I would not say that whatever the plant really is, is extinct. I think it is just a case of very poor taxonomy. Tom Broome

Original source: extinctanimals.proboards22.com/index.cgi?board=plants&action=post&thread=1132136132"e=1132148072

[Melanie]

sebbe67 said:

from Which forum?

original source: extinctanimals.proboards22.com/index.cgi?board=plants&action=post&thread=1132136132"e=1132149212

[Melanie]

melanie said:

Well, this message was private. But the guy who has send me this mail is from here groups.yahoo.com/group/Cycad/

Original source: extinctanimals.proboards22.com/index.cgi?board=plants&action=post&thread=1132136132"e=1132166461

[koeiyabe]

This species is listed as CR on the IUCN redlist.
www.iucnredlist.org/details/42114/0

Please move this thread to Possible extinct plants in the IUCN realist which are classified as DD or as CR.

[koeiyabe]

plants.jstor.org/search?filter=name&so=ps_group_by_genus_species+asc&Query=Zamia+monticola

Last collected specimens

[koeiyabe]

plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/cycadpg?taxname=Zamia+m..

It seems that this species is still extant.

Historical notes: Of particular frustration has been repeated unsuccessful attempts over the past 70 years to relocate Zamia monticola which Chamberlain described in 1926 as being from a single seed he collected in 1906 in Veracruz, Mexico "on the steep mountain side about six or eight miles west of Jalapa, opposite the extinct crater of Naolinco". Chamberlain went on to note that he had collected many seeds of Ceratozamia mexicana but had not seen a single Zamia plant in the vicinity and that the single Zamia monticola seedling appeared among seedlings of C. mexicana. This coupled with the failure to relocate the species in Mexico lead to the conclusion that the species is either extinct or that Chamberlain's seeds became mixed in the glasshouse and that the seed ascribed to Z. monticola is either from Central America or somehow a variant of Z. muricata. Recent collections of Zamia from Guatemala by H. Förtner (2621/592) are unequivocally Z. monticola. The foliage matches the type material of Z. monticola and, moreover, the male cone is identical to the male cone pickled by Chamberlain and sent to the New York Botanical Garden where the original label in Chamberlain's handwriting is still in the bottle. Thus, Z. monticola is extant and living in Guatemala and the puzzle is solved.