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A large multi-headed adult tree in habitat |
More adult trees in habitat |
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Adult plants growing in a cleared pasture |
Female cone in habitat |
Dioon mejiae
| Synonymy: Dioon pectinatum, D. edule β latipinna | Distribution: Honduras, Nicaragua? |
| Common name: Spanish translit. of Náh.—palma teosinte, palmera, teocinte (preferred), teocintle, teocsinte, teosinte, tiusinte, tusinte (all translate as ‘sacred ear’, same name as Zea mays var. mexicana), teocinta (the female plant) Tolupan—ti(ñ)úk. Source: M. Bonta & R. Osborne, Cycads in the Vernacular. | Conservation status: Not threatened in Honduras |
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A large multi-headed adult tree in habitat |
More adult trees in habitat |
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Adult plants growing in a cleared pasture |
Female cone in habitat |
Jody Haynes, Cycad Biologist at Montgomery
Botanical Center, is dwarfed by the sheer
magnitude of this enormous and ancient plant!
Female in cultivation
Dioon mejiae is one of the most
majestic of all cycads, and grows trunks to 10+ meters! It is also probably the
most abundant of
any cycad in the world. Total population estimates in Honduras are
500,000-1,000,000 plants! Although its habitat in many areas
is being degraded, cleared, and burned, the sheer number of plants suggests that
this species is not threatened in the wild.
Top four photos courtesy and copyright © 2003, Dr. Mark Bonta; taken in habitat in Olancho, Honduras. Middle photo courtesy and copyright © 2003, Montgomery Botanical Center; taken in habit in Olancho, Honduras. Bottom photo courtesy and copyright © 1998, Geri Prall, taken at Montgomery Botanical Center, Miami, FL.
Click here to read more
about Dr. Bonta's
work on D. mejiae in Honduras.
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Click left to read more about |
Click here to read the scientific
description of the genus Dioon
Click here for cold-hardiness
information on this cycad.
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