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Some Common & Uncommon Cycads for Central Florida
by Tom Broome
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Dioon edule
Of all the cycad species Dioon edule is probably the hardiest and easiest
cycad to grow. I have never seen this species with insect problems, and it
is very tolerant of a variety of soil conditions. Dioon edule is also one
of the longer living cycads, where a single stem can live to be 1500 years
old, and will attain a stem height of 10 feet. Dioon edule is an average
sized plant that will normally have a six foot spread. In many ways, it is
very similar to the king sago, or Cycas revoluta. The leaves are a little
lighter green, and are more rigid than the king sago. I have found it to
be one of the most frost hardy species in my collection. During the freeze
of 1989, I had 17F at my nursery. All my king sagos were either defoliated
or showed leaf damage. None of my Dioon edule plants had even the first
sign of tip burn. From what I have been told, this species will get leaf
burn at 14F, and trunk damage when experiencing temperatures in the single
digits. This species comes from Mexico with a habitat ranging from just
south of Texas to Vera Cruz in central Mexico. Because of this, there are
several variations as far as leaf types, and cold hardiness. The tolerance
of low temperatures will vary depending on which variation you have, but
all should be considered very cold hardy. As far as leaf types is
concerned, they can have leaflets that are spread apart, close together,
or even slightly over lapping. Dioon edule can have green, red, silver,
and even purple emergent leaves. This means that the leaves will emerge a
certain color, and once the leaves harden up, they will change to green.
This is common in many cycad species, and the most colorful plants are
highly sought after by collectors. Dioon edule prefers to be grown in full
sun, but can tolerate some shade. It is not very fast growing. Even when
it is fertilized regularly, you should not expect more than two flushes of
leaves per year on the average. Cones become receptive to pollination in
our area in either October or November, and seeds are usually ready the
next November. Once the cone falls apart, the seeds can usually be planted
immediately or with an over ripening period of only one month. Dioon edule
is a good choice for the first time cycad enthusiast and is readily
available at all our sales. A plant like this will be something that you
can enjoy growing for the rest of your life, as well as handed down to
many generations to come. |
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Ceratozamia hildae
also known as the Bamboo cycad for it's upright growth habit. Because of
this it can be planted in many areas where other more
"spreading" cycads cannot. This mature specimen is at Leu
Gardens, Orlando and is another terrific choice for nearly all of central
Florida - hardy into the low 20's, perhaps beyond. |
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Encephalartos horridus
One of the $$$ South African "blue" cycads. This specimen @
Selby Gardens, Sarasota. For some reason the blue Encephalartos will
develop cones but do not set seed in Florida. |
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Stangeria eriopus
Native to South Africa this mature specimen growing at Leu Gardens,
Orlando. The foliage is almost fern like in appearance, especially when
new & soft. This is an understory plant perfectly suitable for shady
areas but it can take some sun during the course of the day.
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Zamia integrifolia
A.K.A. the Coontie. Our native cycad comes in several forms; this is the
largest, known as Palatka Giant. Also known as Zamia floridana or
mistakenly Z.pumila, another species entirely. |
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Ceratozamia kuesteriana
This is one of the cycads that is perfect for growing in central Florida.
This plant comes from the state of Tamaulipas, in Mexico. The ground there
is poor, so it can tolerate growing in our sandy soil here in Florida. I
have found that this species is very cold and frost hardy. I had some
plants out in the open during a freeze that had a low of 20F, and a
blanketing frost, but none of the plants showed even a hint of frost
damage. It has a subterranean stem, so the plant can survive temps in the
lower teens. I have seen leaves and exposed stems get damaged at 17F. It
makes a great landscape plant because it is one of the only cycads that
does not have any spines on the leaflets, or the petioles. Because they
are "unarmed", they can be planted near traffic areas. They
attain a five to six foot spread, so they don't get to large for most
landscape applications. They can be planted in the shade or full sun, but
they look their best in light shade to give them the best color. I have
found that they also produce seeds better when grown in the shade. These
cycads are unique because they have brown emergent leaves. This means that
when the new leaves come out, they are brown, and turn to green as they
harden up. During this period of growth, some leaves and leaflets will
turn green at different times so that the plant will have a variety of
colors for a few weeks. As a landscaper, I have found that these cycads
look very nice when they are surrounded with Aztec grass, a variegated
border grass. The white grass and the brown leaves have a really nice
contrast that looks good in the landscape. Both these plants perform well
in the shade, so they can be used as understory plants, amongst plantings
of oak trees or large palms. I have found that these plants perform
moderately to fertilizer applications, and will usually produce leaves two
to three times a year. As long as the soil drains well, the plants can
tolerate a great deal of water, but on the other hand can be also grown in
a xeriscape situation. All cycads are on the endangered species list. The
most endangered species are on appendix 1, where the least endangered
plants are on appendix 3. All cycads are on either appendix 1 or 2. All
Ceratozamias, including C. kuesteriana are on appendix 1. In habitat,
there are an estimated 1200 mature plants. The locality has been made into
a national park and little poaching is happening, so these plants are
fairly safe for now. They produce seeds very easily in Florida, and it is
not uncommon for a female to produce a cone that will hold more than 200
seeds. Older plants can form a cluster, so it is possible for a large
plant to produce up to 1000 seeds in one season. There are at least a
dozen individuals in Florida who have small colonies for seed production,
so these plants should easily be found for sale by cycad collectors. It
would be a great plant for any novice cycad collector to grow. It can be
grown almost anywhere in Florida, but until people start getting familiar
with this species, it will only be seen in private collections and
botanical gardens. |
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Encephalartos ferox
An excellent candidate for wide cultivation in our region. This is a
"green" leafed Encephalartos which in Florida, perform much
better than the "blue" Encephalartos. The green plants do set
seed here (note male cones in center of plant). This specimen is growing
in mainland Vero but there are larger specimens farther north &
inland.
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