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Denise Bush
Malaga
Friday, 11 October 2024, 13:34
Native to Mexico, where it grows in dry thorny scrub and on limestone cliffs, the cardboard palm, or Zamia furfuracea, is a tough survivor from the age of the dinosaurs.
Also called Jamaican sago and the Mexican cycad, this living fossil isn't actually a palm at all but its stiff, pinnate leaves do resemble palm fronds.
Tolerant of high temperatures, poor soils, low humidity and even coastal winds, Zamia furfuracea is an ideal contender for a Mediterranean garden. It is not, however, able to withstand low temperatures so growing it in a container is possibly the best option in cooler areas so that it can be moved to a sheltered spot in winter.
Wider than it is high, it needs a fair amount of space. The trunk will grow to around 20cm tall, partially buried under the soil. In times of severe drought, this trunk acts as a water reservoir to keep the plant alive.
The female plants develop an egg shaped cone covered in a rusty brown felt. When ripe, it opens to reveal bright-red seeds. The seed only stays viable for a very short time and propagation is usually easier by carefully removing offsets (with at least one bud and some roots attached) from the base. This can be achieved using a sharp knife but, as the cardboard palm does not like root disturbance, it is best done when the oil is moist and when it is dormant, during early spring or late autumn. Male cones are smaller and covered with pollen.
Zamia furfuracea is slow growing and will take weeks and even months for cuttings to get established.
It must be grown in free-draining soil as over watering will kill it. Water on the crown may also cause the centre to rot. Only water once the soil has dried out and reduce or stop watering altogether during the winter.
Zamia furfuracea is one of fifty species in the genus; most, if not all, grow in tropical environments around the world.
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