Zamia boliviana
Zamia boliviana is a species of plant in the family Zamiaceae. It is endemic to Bolivia and Mato Grosso, Brazil.
Description
Zamia boliviana has an in-ground cylindrical stem. There are one to three compound-leaves on a crown standing tall. The leaves are up to long. The petiole is smooth, with no prickles. There are 16 to 40 leaflets on a leaf which are long and wide, linear-lanceolate in shape, tapering to a point, and with a smooth edge along most of the leaflet and a few teeth toward the tip.Like all Zamias, Zamia brasiliensis is dioecious, with each plant being either male or female. There are up to five male strobili on the crown of a male plant. The male cones are cylindrical, on short peduncles, and covered in yellow-cream hairs. There is only one female strobilus on the crown of a female plant, which is cream-tan with green undertones or cream-yellow to tan. Seeds are by wide.
Both male and female cones emerge during the dry season, June through October. Male cones live about 60 days, while female cones last about 330 days, releasing their seeds in April through August. Female plants do not produce seeds every year. Over a three-year period at one study site, only 71% of the female plants reproduced, and none did so twice.
Mutualism
The beetle Pharaxonotha cerradensis is in an obligatory mutualistic relationship with Zamia boliviana, living and breeding in male cones and consuming pollen and cone tissues while serving as a pollinating vector by transferring pollen to female cones.Habitat and range
Zamia boliviana is found between of altitude in the Cerrado ecoregion in Beni, Cochabamba, La Paz, and Santa Cruz departments in Bolivia and Mato Grosso state in Brazil.Zamia boliviana is likely closely related to Z. brasiliensis, sharing many characteristics. They both lack prickles on their pedicles, a rare trait in mainland Zamia, and have broadly similar strobili. However, leaflets on Z. brasiliensis are much wider than on Z. boliviana, and there are consistent diagnostic distinctions in the cones. Z. brasiliensis is found east of Z. boliviana in Brazil, with no overlap in range between the two.