Zamia loddigesii
Zamia loddigesii, also known as teocinte, is a species of plant in the family Zamiaceae. It is found in Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Tamaulipas, and Veracruz states in Mexico. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Description
The stem is subterranean, with older ones branching. The stem is long and in diameter. There are two or three compound leaves on a stem apex, standing upright or spreading out. Leaves are long and wide. They emerge a light-green, turning to green or dark green as they mature. The petiole is long, with prickles up 4 long. The rachis is up to long, with a few prickles on the lower third of its length. There are 12 to 23 pairs of leaflets on a leaf. Median leaflets are long and wide.Like all cycads, Zamia loddigesii is dioecious, with individual plants being either male or female. There are one or two male strobili on a stem apex, up to six cones on a plant with multiple apices. Cones are erect, cylindrical, and long and in diameter. They are light-brown and covered in hair. The peduncles are also light-brown and covernered in hair. They are and in diameter. There are one or two female strobili on a crown. They are erect, ellipsoid to conical, up to tall and up to in diameter. The cones are beige and covered with hair. The Peduncle is up to long and in diameter, brown and covered with hair. Seed are ovoid, long and in diameter. The sarcotesta is smooth, pink when immature, turning red with maturity.
Distribution
Zamia loddigesii is found in Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Tamaulipas, and Veracruz states in Mexico. Populations of Zamia loddigesii are highly fragmented, with much of its habitat in tropical dry forests that have been cleared for agriculture and cattle pasture, and is subject to frequent fires.Genetic diversity
A 2003 study of populations of Z. loddigesii from Tabasco, southern Veracruz, central Veracruz, and Tamaulipas states in Mexico found that Z. loddigesii had a relatively high genetic diversity compared to tropical trees and to other cycad species, with genetic differences clustering at geographical locations.Conservation
As pollination in Zamia loddigesii, as in all cycads, is performed by insects with poor flying ability, and there is no vector for general widespread seed dispersal, there is little or no gene flow between isolated populations. It also appears that only a few plants in each population are reproductively active, and recruitment of seedlings is low.The primary threat to Zamia loddigesii is habitat loss, primarily due to human activities.