Zamia fairchildiana
Zamia fairchildiana is a species of plant in the family Zamiaceae. It is found in southeastern Costa Rica and western Panama. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Etymology
The epithet fairchildiana, refers to either the botanist David Fairchild, or his son, the entomologist A. G. B. "Sandy" Fairchild.Phylogenetic history
Zamia fairchildiana was originally defined to include scattered populations from southeastern Costa Rica to the Guna Yala indigenous region in eastern Panama. It was soon recognized that the population in central and eastern Panama was not the species Z. fairchildiana, and there were no known populations of either species between Costa Rica and Colon. The new species in Panama was described and named Z. elegantissima in 1998. In 2004, two populations in San_José_Province, Costa Rica, that had been included in Z. fairchildiana were recognized as belonging to Z. acuminata. A molecular phylogenetics study in 2019 using DNA and one in 2024 using transcriptomes found Z. fairchildiana to be sister to Z. pseudomonticola and in a clade with Z. acuminata and Z. nana.Description
The stem of Zamia fairchildiana is erect, tall, and in diameter. It has three to ten compound-leaves on the apex of the stem. Leaves are long. Petioles are long and densely covered with prickles. The lower third of the rachis also has prickles. There are 10 to 30 pairs of leaflets on a leaf. The leaflets are oblong, somewhat sickle shaped, with acute points, and have a few fine teeth near the tip of the leaflet.Like all cycads, Zamia fairchildiana is dioecious, with individual plants being either male or female. Male strobili are cylindrical, long and in diameter, and cream to yellow in color. Female strobili are cylindrical, long and in diameter, and yellow-green to light brown in color. Seeds are ovoid, long, and red in color.