Photo credit: Pam Schmitt/UF/IFAS Entomology
Like all cycads, the coontie has ancient origins. But this Florida plant is the only cycad native to North America. It's also the larval host plant for the rare Atala butterfly (Eumaeus).
The Atala was once abundant in southern Florida but, during the late 1800s, its numbers were drastically reduced due to commercial harvesting of cootie for starch. Continued urbanization pushed the species even closer to extinction.
By 1965, the Atala had been reduced to a single known colony. Persistent efforts by conservationists, combined with the rapid growth in popularity of cycads for landscape use, helped the butterfly make a remarkable recovery. It's habitat is southern Florida.
The coontie (Zamia integrifolia) looks like a small fern, and is typically one to three feet tall. It has stiff, glossy, featherlike leaves attached to a thick, short, underground stem. Florida’s native peoples once ground up the stems to create a starchy flour for cooking. Don’t try this yourself, though—the stem is toxic unless prepared properly.
Because of its high drought tolerance and moderate salt tolerance, the coontie is an excellent choice for the coastal landscape. And it’s cold-hardy, too. Coonties can be planted in sun or shade, and can be used as a specimen plant or in foundation and massed plantings throughout the state.
Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody trunk with a large crown of stiff, evergreen leaves. Cycads vary in size from having trunks only a few centimeters to several meters tall. They typically grow very slowly and live very long. Because of their superficial resemblance, they are sometimes mistaken for palms or ferns, but they are not closely related to either group.
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