Zamia lindosensis

Zamia lindosensis is a cycad from Colombia, known only from the Serranía de La Lindosa, a range of rocky hills near San José del Guaviare, in the department of Guaviare, where it grows on rocky outcrops between about 290 and 490 m above sea level. Described in 2018 and named after these hills, this species of the genus Zamia is one of the least known members of the genus: its original description is not freely available, it has not yet been assessed by the IUCN, and no botanical garden declares it.

Key facts about Zamia lindosensis

  • Accepted name: Zamia lindosensis D.W.Stev., D.Cárdenas & N.Castaño (2018), accepted by The World List of Cycads (version 2026.08.15), by GBIF and by the World Checklist of Vascular Plants, on which POWO is based; POWO could not be consulted directly
  • Former names and synonyms: none
  • Family: Zamiaceae, order Cycadales
  • Common names: no name attested, in English or in Spanish
  • Natural range: Colombia, department of Guaviare, Serranía de La Lindosa (municipality of San José del Guaviare); herbarium collections between 290 and 490 m
  • IUCN status: Not Evaluated
  • CITES and other protection: CITES Appendix II (whole genus, since 1977; seeds exempt under annotation #4); Annex B in the European Union
  • Documented hardiness: no data (see Cold hardiness)
  • Light and soil: in the wild, vegetation on rocky outcrops and, at one site, a white-sand savanna among the rocks; no growing advice published for the species
  • Habit and adult size: not documented from a freely available source; photographs show a plant without a visible trunk, with arching leaves bearing many narrow leaflets
  • In the UK, US and Australia: no garden declares it to BGCI
  • Toxicity: no data specific to the species; treat it as poisonous, like all cycads (see Toxicity and precautions)

How to recognise Zamia lindosensis

The surest guide is its origin: it is the only Zamia known from the Serranía de La Lindosa. The original description, published in 2018 in the journal Brittonia, is behind a paywall and could not be consulted, so the measurements of the stem, leaves, leaflets and cones are not given here; no other freely available publication describes the plant in detail.

A photographic field guide to the plants of the Playa Guío reserve and the Serranía de La Lindosa, produced in 2023 by the Universidad de la Amazonia with the Field Museum of Chicago, illustrates the species with two pictures: a plant without a visible trunk, with arching, pinnate leaves carrying many narrow, closely set leaflets, and a cylindrical brown cone with tightly packed scales, held close to the ground (López-Floriano and colleagues, 2023). The World List of Cycads also shows a series of photographs taken in Guaviare in 2015 during a herbarium collection.

Hybrids

No hybrid, natural or raised in cultivation, is documented.

Possible confusion

No published comparison with other species could be consulted. Zamia lindosensis is one of the ten Zamia accepted from the Amazon region, which Segalla and colleagues (2023) describe as the least understood group in the genus and in need of taxonomic revision: Zamia amazonum, Zamia boliviana, Zamia brasiliensis, Zamia hymenophyllidia, Zamia lecointei, Zamia lindosensis, Zamia macrochiera, Zamia poeppigiana, Zamia ulei and Zamia urep. In practice, a plant from the Serranía de La Lindosa can be named with confidence; a plant of unknown origin cannot be identified from the published data available here.

Taxonomy

Zamia lindosensis is an accepted name according to The World List of Cycads, GBIF and the World Checklist of Vascular Plants, on which POWO is based (read on GBIF, version of 4 June 2026); POWO itself could not be consulted. The species was described by Dennis Wm. Stevenson, of the New York Botanical Garden, with Dairon Cárdenas López and Nicolás Castaño Arboleda, in an article titled “A new Zamia (Zamiaceae) from Colombia”, published online on 19 June 2018 in Brittonia (volume 70, issue 3, pages 364 to 368). It has no synonym.

Relationships. According to Segalla and colleagues (2023), most of the Amazonian Zamia studied genetically form a natural group, citing the phylogeny of Calonje and colleagues (2019). Zamia lindosensis is, however, one of the nine accepted species that the transcriptome phylogeny of Lindstrom and colleagues (2024) could not sample, so its place in the genus has not been tested by that study.

Etymology and history

The epithet refers to the type locality, the Serranía de La Lindosa (The World List of Cycads, after Haynes, 2022).

The type was collected on 9 September 2008 at 400 m in the Serranía de La Lindosa, Guaviare, by Dairon Cárdenas, Nicolás Castaño, Zuluaga and Sedano (number 21798a); the holotype is kept at the Colombian Amazonian Herbarium (COAH), run by the SINCHI Amazonian Institute of Scientific Research (The World List of Cycads). Ten years thus passed between the type collection and the publication of the name. The herbarium has since received further collections from the same hills, in 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2021.

Common names

No common name is attested for this species, in English or in Spanish.

In the wild

The World List of Cycads gives Guaviare, in Colombia, as the only department where the species occurs. The herbarium specimens kept at COAH, published through GBIF, all come from the Serranía de La Lindosa, in the municipality of San José del Guaviare, at elevations of 290 to 490 m. Their labels describe the habitat as vegetation on rocky outcrops, in places alongside Acanthella sprucei, Ficus albert-smithii and a Clusia, and, at the site known as Ciudad de Piedra, a white-sand savanna among the outcrops (collection of 2013). Several collections come from the same farm in the Los Alpes area, including a hill named on a 2021 label as the “cerro El Parque de las Zamias”.

The 2023 field guide confirms its presence in the Playa Guío reserve and the Serranía de La Lindosa (López-Floriano and colleagues, 2023). Its pollinators, phenology and population size have not been documented in a source that could be consulted.

Conservation status and regulation

Zamia lindosensis has not yet been assessed by the IUCN: The World List of Cycads and GBIF list it as Not Evaluated (consulted on 25 October 2026). Its known range is a single range of hills, which would make it vulnerable to any change in land use there, but no assessment quantifies its population or the threats.

Like all Zamia except Zamia restrepoi, which is in Appendix I, Zamia lindosensis is covered by the listing of the genus in CITES Appendix II, in force since 4 February 1977. Annotation #4 (the version adopted at CoP20, in force on 5 March 2026) exempts seeds, pollen, seedlings and tissue cultures obtained in vitro and transported in sterile containers, and cut flowers of artificially propagated plants; international trade in the plants themselves requires an export permit. In the European Union the species falls under Annex B of Regulation (EC) No 338/97, whose current list is set by Regulation (EU) 2026/1383, applicable since 29 June 2026. Species+, the official CITES database, does not yet list the species by name, but the listing covers the whole genus (“Zamia spp.”) and therefore includes it (checked on 3 October 2026).

This general information does not replace the official texts: check the regulations in force before buying or exchanging plants or seeds, ask the seller for proof of origin and prefer plants raised from cultivated seed.

Growing Zamia lindosensis

No growing advice specific to Zamia lindosensis has been published, and the species does not appear in the collections declared by botanical gardens. Simon Lavaud, of the French specialist nursery Cycadales.eu, lists it with the Zamia of the lowland forests of Central and South America, a group he rates as difficult outside the tropics because European climates are generally too cool and too dry for them. For this group he advises a free-draining, neutral to acid compost and water, night temperatures around 22 °C (72 °F), with brief drops to about 15 °C (59 °F) tolerated, daytime temperatures of 28 to 30 °C (82 to 86 °F) and air humidity of 70 to 90 per cent, in a glasshouse, conservatory or heated growing room (Lavaud, 2023). This is advice for the whole group, not the result of trials with this species.

Outdoor and in-ground cultivation

Outdoor cultivation can only be considered in a hot, frost-free tropical climate. Its habitat on rocky outcrops and white sand suggests a very free-draining soil, but no garden is known to grow it in the open.

Container cultivation

Elsewhere it is a plant for a heated glasshouse. A deep pot, a mineral, free-draining compost and warmth all year round follow from its habitat and from Lavaud’s advice for its group; they have not been tested with this species.

In cultivation in the UK, US and Australia

In short: no garden declares it.

  • United States: no record in BGCI and no entry in the online catalogue of Montgomery Botanical Center (queried on 25 October 2026).
  • United Kingdom: no record in BGCI or in the online catalogues of British gardens.
  • Australia: no record in BGCI.

Propagation

No data specific to the species. Like all Zamia, it has separate male and female plants and is propagated from fresh seed. Given its very small known range, any material should come from documented, legal sources.

Pests and diseases

No pest or disease specific to the species has been documented. In cultivation, Zamia are chiefly at risk from rot in cold, waterlogged compost and from scale insects.

Cold hardiness

No data exist on the cold tolerance of Zamia lindosensis. It grows in the lowlands of the Colombian Amazon region, under a hot tropical climate, and nothing suggests that it can take frost.

Mediterranean and European experience

No cultivation result has been published in France or elsewhere in Europe, either in the ground or in a pot, and no dated frost episode concerns the species. For readers in Mediterranean-type climates such as California or southern Australia, it remains a plant for a heated glasshouse.

United Kingdom, United States and Australia

No cold record exists, and no garden in these countries declares it.

Toxicity and precautions

No toxicity study specific to Zamia lindosensis has been published. The risk is, however, well documented in cycads: Zamia contain toxic glycosides (cycasin, macrozamin), from which methylazoxymethanol is derived, a compound toxic to the liver and nervous system, and the ASPCA cites cycasin and BMAA, a neurotoxic amino acid, for Zamia furfuracea, which it lists as toxic to dogs, cats and horses; the seeds are the most dangerous part. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, treat the plant as poisonous: keep seeds and leaves out of reach of children and animals, and wear gloves to clean seeds. If any part is swallowed, contact a poison centre, a doctor or a vet straight away.

Traditional uses

No use is documented for this species.

Frequently asked questions

Where does the name Zamia lindosensis come from?

From the Serranía de La Lindosa, a range of rocky hills in the department of Guaviare, in Colombia, the only area where the species is known.

Where does it grow?

Only in the Serranía de La Lindosa, near San José del Guaviare, on rocky outcrops and, in places, white sand, between about 290 and 490 m according to herbarium labels.

How can it be identified?

By its origin above all. The measurements of the 2018 description are not freely available; photographs show a stemless-looking plant with arching leaves and many narrow leaflets.

Is it endangered?

Nobody knows yet. The IUCN has not assessed it; it is known from a single range of hills, which makes it potentially vulnerable.

Can it be bought?

In practice, no. No botanical garden or nursery is known to hold it; it is covered by CITES Appendix II, seeds being exempt under annotation #4.

Is it hardy?

Almost certainly not. No cold data exist; it is a lowland tropical plant to keep frost-free and warm all year.

Is it poisonous?

It must be assumed so. No analysis specific to the species exists, but the cycads studied contain serious toxins, mainly in the seeds.

Further reading on Succulentes

Sources

Reference sites

Bibliography

  • Stevenson, D.W., Cárdenas López, D. & Castaño Arboleda, N. (2018). A new Zamia (Zamiaceae) from Colombia. Brittonia 70(3): 364–368. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12228-018-9535-3 [Original description; behind a paywall, not consulted; reference checked on Crossref.]
  • Segalla, R., Pimenta, R.S. & Calonje, M. (2023). Zamia multidentata (Cycadales, Zamiaceae), a new arborescent species of Zamia from Acre, Brazil. Phytotaxa 598(1): 21–31. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.598.1.2 [Peer-reviewed article; full text read.]
  • Lindstrom, A., Habib, S., Dong, S., Gong, Y., Liu, J., Calonje, M., Stevenson, D. & Zhang, S. (2024). Transcriptome sequencing data provide a solid base to understand the phylogenetic relationships, biogeography and reticulated evolution of the genus Zamia L. (Cycadales: Zamiaceae). Annals of Botany 134(5): 747–768. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcae065 [Full text read on PubMed Central.]
  • López-Floriano, O.M., Ruiz-Valderrama, D.H., Celis-Granada, M.S. and colleagues (2023). Plantas de la Reserva Playa Guio y La Serranía de la Lindosa (San José del Guaviare). Rapid Color Guide 1607, version 1. Field Museum, Chicago. [Photographic field guide; read.]
  • Haynes, J.L. (2022). Etymological compendium of cycad names. Phytotaxa 550(1): 1–31. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.550.1.1 [Source of the etymologies given by The World List of Cycads; not consulted directly.]
  • Calonje, M., Stevenson, D.W. & Osborne, R. (2026). The World List of Cycads, version 2026.08.15. Montgomery Botanical Center, Coral Gables. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21958524 [Reference checklist; consulted directly.]