Clarification of <i>Zamia acuminata</i> and a new <i>Zamia</i> species from Coclé Province, Panama

Abstract

Zamia acuminata has remained an obscure, poorly understood species for over a century due to possibly misinterpreted or erroneous locality data on the unicate sterile type specimen, a very brief protologue description, the misidentification of the plants from El Valle de Antón in Panama as Z. acuminata, and the erroneous determinations of plants of Z. acuminata from Costa Rica as Z. fairchildiana. Recently collected material from San José Province in Costa Rica is here determined to be identical to the single sterile leaf material of the holotype of Zamia acuminata. We consider Z. acuminata to be a Costa Rican endemic species restricted to the western Talamanca mountain range in San José Province, and that the Zamia from El Valle de Antón in Panama, which has previously been referred to as Zamia acuminata, to be a new species, here described as Zamia nana.

Specialized bacteriome uncovered in the coralloid roots of the epiphytic gymnosperm, Zamia pseudoparasitica

“…The endemic species of the Isthmian clade seem to have evolved most recently following the closure of the isthmus of Panama, approximately 3-20 Ma, depending on the study (Montes et al, 2015). Panama harbors 17 species of Zamia with 12 endemics, including Zamia nana (Lindström, Calonje, Stevenson, Husby, & Taylor, 2013) and Zamia pseudoparasitica (Taylor, Haynes, Stevenson, Holzman, & Mendieta, 2012;Taylor, Mendieta, & Varela, 2014). Both species are endemic to central Panama and restricted to evergreen montane forests (Taylor et al, 2012).…”

Zamia brasiliensis, a new species of Zamia (Zamiaceae, Cycadales) from Mato Grosso and Rondônia, Brazil

“…Occurring from Florida, U.S.A. south to Bolivia, it is also the most broadly distributed genus in the New World. During the last decade there have been remarkable advances in our understanding of Zamia taxonomy, with 17 new species names or combinations published (Schutzman et al 2008, Taylor et al 2008, Calonje 2009, Lindstrom & Idarraga 2009, Acuña 2010, Calonje et al 2010, Calonje et al 2011, Pérez-Farrera et al 2012, Lindstrom et al 2013, Calonje et al 2018, Stevenson et al 2018 and multiple papers providing additional taxonomic and/or nomenclatural clarifications (Nicolalde-Morejón et al 2008, Lindstrom 2009, Nicolalde-Morejón et al 2009, Calonje et al 2010, Applequist 2012, Calonje et al 2015, Pérez-Farrera et al 2016, Ward 2016. Despite recent advances, Zamia populations occurring within the Amazon basin remain poorly understood, with the taxonomic circumscriptions of most accepted species remaining unclear, and the presence of several populations that potentially represent undescribed species.…”

Retracing origins of exceptional cycads in botanical collections to increase conservation value

“…Based on the type locality being at the San Juan River, assumptions were made that the species occurs in Costa Rica (reviewed in Lindström et al, 2013)…”