Ceratozamia Robusta
- Details
- Category: Plants
Description
trunk to 2 m long and 30 cm diameter, with the leaf bases spreading away from the trunk.
Mature Leaves
8 - 30, often in a dense crown, 1.5 - 3 m
long, dark green, smooth, glabrous, flat in cross-section, straight to
arching in profile.
Male Cones
30 - 50 x 10 - 14 cm, cylindrical, erect, recurved or nearly pendent, grey-brown.
Female Cones
30 - 50 x 10 - 14 cm, cylindrical, erect, grey.
Seeds
About 2.5 x 2 cm, ovoid, the sarcotesta white, smooth.
Distribution and Habitat
Occurs in Belize, Guatemala and Mexico
(Oaxaca, Veracruz and perhaps Chiapas). This species grows in the
understorey of wet, humid, tropical rainforests.
This species was described in 1847 from plants cultivated in Europe and originating from somewhere in Mexico.
Ceratozamia robusta is the largest and most vigorous species in the genus. It has been included with C. mexicana by some authorities, but is much more robust, with a larger trunk, longer leaves, larger cones and acute tips on the leaflets. It has the widest distribution of any species of Ceratozamia and is also somewhat variable.
Plants from the forests of Belize and Guatemala are the largest of all and often have crowns of relatively lax leaves. Those from Veracruz are smaller and less vigorous than other variants and those from Chiapas fall somewhere in between.
Cultivation
Suited to tropical and warm subtropical regions. A
vigorous species which forms impressive clumps when grown in amenable
conditions. Young plants make attractive specimens for large containers
but must be planted in the ground if they are to achieve their full
potential. They require protections from excessive hot sun, with a
position receiving morning sun or filtered sun being most suitable.
Plants respond vigorously to an abundance of water, regular light
application of fertiliser and mulching.
Propagation
From fresh seed and by division of clumps.
