Macrozamia cranei

Macrozamia cranei is a small cycad from south-eastern Queensland, in eastern Australia, that grows only in rugged country near Texas, on the Darling Downs, close to the border with New South Wales, in open eucalypt forest or dry vine thicket, often near limestone outcrops. A species of the genus Macrozamia described in 1994, it carries a few erect, strongly spirally twisted leaves on a single underground stem; its leaflets are dark green and glossy above and glaucous beneath. Named after the amateur botanist who found it, it is listed as Endangered in Australia and on the IUCN Red List.

Key facts about Macrozamia cranei

  • Accepted name: Macrozamia cranei D.L.Jones & P.I.Forst. (1994), accepted by The World List of Cycads (version 2026.08.15) and the Australian Plant Census
  • Former names and synonyms: none; before its description, the informal name Macrozamia sp. (Texas R.Crane 741)
  • Family: Zamiaceae, order Cycadales; section Parazamia, Macrozamia plurinervia complex
  • Common names: Crane’s Macrozamia (Flora of Australia)
  • Natural range: endemic to south-eastern Queensland, Australia: around Texas (Darling Downs), between Limevale and Stanthorpe and south to near the New South Wales border, at 400 to 650 m
  • IUCN status: Endangered (EN C1), assessment by J.D. Bösenberg dated 27 August 2020 and published in 2022
  • CITES and other protection: CITES Appendix II (annotation #4); Annex B in the European Union; Endangered under Queensland law and under the federal EPBC Act
  • Documented hardiness: no cultivation data (see Cold hardiness)
  • Light and soil: in the wild, steep ridges with shallow skeletal soil or alluvium along seasonal creeks, near limestone outcrops, in open forest or dry vine thicket; in cultivation, not documented
  • Habit and adult size: unbranched underground stem 10 to 25 cm across; 1 to 5 leaves 70 to 90 cm long
  • In the UK, US and Australia: no botanic garden is known to grow it (BGCI, Garden Explorer of the Sydney gardens, Montgomery Botanical Center)
  • Toxicity: not documented for the species; seeds and leaves toxic throughout the genus (see Toxicity and precautions)

How to recognise Macrozamia cranei

It is recognised by its single underground stem, which never forms clumps, by its few erect leaves whose axis twists three to six times, and by its narrow leaflets, dark green and glossy above but dull and powdery grey beneath. The original description by David Jones and Paul Forster (1994) gives the following characters.

  • Stem: underground, more or less ovoid, 10 to 25 cm across, unbranched.
  • Leaves: 1 to 5 in a sparse crown, erect, 70 to 90 cm long, dark green and glossy; young leaves silky on the axis and strongly powdery on the leaflets; leaf base covered in soft fawn to grey-brown wool; petiole 15 to 31 cm long; axis twisted three to six times.
  • Leaflets: 100 to 150 per leaf, linear, 7 to 30 cm long and 2 to 7 mm wide, set at about 50° to the axis, dark green and glossy above, dull and glaucous beneath, shallowly channelled, often drooping at the tip, which ends in a small yellow point; inconspicuous greenish base; the lowest leaflets are not reduced to spines.
  • Male cones: more or less cylindrical, 8 to 22 cm long and 2.5 to 5.5 cm across; the scales towards the top carry stiff spines up to 1 cm long.
  • Female cones: ovoid, erect, green, 8 to 13 cm long and 4.5 to 5.5 cm across.
  • Seeds: ovoid, 2 to 2.5 cm long and 1.8 to 2.2 cm wide, with orange to red flesh.

The Flora of Australia gives a stem 7 to 12 cm across, grey-green leaves glossy above, and female cones up to 14 cm long; it distinguishes the species within the Macrozamia plurinervia complex by its short to medium leaves with narrow leaflets, more or less glossy above.

Hybrids

No hybrid has been reported.

Possible confusion

Jones and Forster (1994) place it in the complex of Macrozamia plurinervia, a species of northern New South Wales, from which it differs by its unbranched stem, its leaflets dark green and glossy above and strongly glaucous beneath, and its much smaller, green rather than glaucous cones and smaller seeds.

Its closest relative is Macrozamia occidua, from the nearby Sundown area. In their key, Macrozamia cranei has longer leaves (70 to 90 cm, against 40 to 75 cm), longer leaflets that are glossy above, and green cones, never glaucous. It also resembles the other small species of the Darling Downs, such as Macrozamia conferta, which has bright green leaflets, glossy on both surfaces and very crowded. As each of these species occupies its own area, the origin of a plant is a strong clue to its identity.

Taxonomy

Macrozamia cranei D.L.Jones & P.I.Forst. is accepted by The World List of Cycads and the Australian Plant Census, with no synonym. It was published in 1994 in the journal Austrobaileya (vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 273–275), among seven new species of section Parazamia from south-eastern Queensland: small plants with an underground stem, usually twisted leaves, no lower leaflets reduced to spines and no mucilage canals in the leaflets.

Melinda Laidlaw and Paul Forster (2012) note that the five species of this group on the Darling Downs (Macrozamia cranei, Macrozamia conferta, Macrozamia machinii, Macrozamia occidua and Macrozamia viridis) may result from a fairly recent, probably post-Pleistocene, speciation, or may be seen as five metapopulations of a single, highly variable “superspecies”; they are still recognised as separate species.

The type, a male plant, was collected near Texas on 25 September 1992 by Paul Forster, Peter Machin and Ralph Crane (Forster 11593B); the holotype is held at the Queensland Herbarium in Brisbane and an isotype at the Australian National Herbarium in Canberra.

Etymology and history

The epithet honours Ralph Crane, who brought the plant to the botanists’ attention. Jones and Forster (1994) describe him as a builder by trade and an amateur orchidologist who had contributed more than 700 herbarium specimens of orchids to the herbaria of Brisbane and Canberra. The World List of Cycads, following Haynes (2022), gives his full name, Cyril “Ralph” Crane (1939–1999), and his home town, Stanthorpe. According to the original description, he discovered the species in May 1992. The genus name Macrozamia combines the Greek makros, “large”, with the genus name Zamia.

Common names

The Flora of Australia gives the English name “Crane’s Macrozamia”, formed on the epithet. No traditional name is recorded, and no name is attested in other languages.

In the wild

Macrozamia cranei occupies a small area of rugged country near Texas, on the Darling Downs (Jones and Forster, 1994); WildNet, the Queensland Government’s wildlife database, places it between Limevale and Stanthorpe and south to near the border with New South Wales. It grows at 400 to 650 m, in small colonies, either on steep ridges in shallow, skeletal soil among granite and limestone rocks, or on alluvium along seasonal creeks. The vegetation is open eucalypt forest or fragmented semi-evergreen vine thicket. Because fuel loads are low, its habitat rarely burns (WildNet, after Halford, 1997, and the Queensland Herbarium, 2007).

The cones mature from October to February according to the original description (October to November according to the Flora of Australia), and the seeds ripen in February and March. According to WildNet, the plants may not cone every year when conditions are unfavourable. Cross-pollination is carried out by beetles, in an obligate mutualism; in this group of species they are weevils of the genus Tranes, attracted by cones that produce heat (Laidlaw and Forster, 2012).

Conservation status and regulation

Macrozamia cranei is listed as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List under criterion C1, which refers to a small population undergoing a continuing decline. The assessment, by J.D. Bösenberg, is dated 27 August 2020 and was published in 2022 (The World List of Cycads, GBIF and Crossref, checked on 26 October 2026). It is also listed as Endangered in Queensland and under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC). The Flora of Australia dates the federal listing from 16 July 2000, whereas WildNet dates the current listing from 18 November 2022. The species is covered by the national multi-species recovery plan for cycads prepared in 2007 by the Queensland Herbarium.

In 1994 its known populations were on private land. In 2012, Laidlaw and Forster wrote that none of its known populations was protected in a reserve: about 8% of its modelled potential habitat lay in a national park or state forests, a share that their models predict will fall below 5% by the middle of the century as the climate warms. They also predict that its suitable habitat will contract towards the middle of its present altitudinal range, very markedly in this species.

Like other Macrozamia, it has been listed in CITES Appendix II since 4 February 1977, with annotation #4: seeds and pollen are exempt, but plants are not. In the European Union it falls under Annex B of Regulation (EC) No 338/97, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1383, applicable since 29 June 2026 (Species+, checked on 26 October 2026). Check the regulations in force before any purchase or import, and buy only seed-raised plants with their papers.

Growing Macrozamia cranei

No published source describes the cultivation of Macrozamia cranei, in Australia or elsewhere. The Palm and Cycad Societies of Australia (PACSOA) advise, in a few words, a sunny, very well-drained position. Its habitat suggests a very free-draining, stony soil, perhaps limy, and bright light; these are only pointers. It is a small plant, suited to a pot.

Outdoor and in-ground cultivation

  • Light: sunny, according to the PACSOA; in the wild, open forest or dry thicket.
  • Soil: very free-draining; in the wild, skeletal soils or alluvium near limestone outcrops.
  • Water: no published data for the species.
  • Space: little; a single crown of a few leaves up to 90 cm long.

Container cultivation

No container culture has been described. Its size suits a deep pot of free-draining mineral compost. A plant in a pot loses the protection that the soil gives to its underground stem in winter (see Cold hardiness).

In cultivation in the UK, US and Australia

  • Australia: the species is listed neither in the Garden Explorer of the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney nor in that of the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan.
  • United States: no garden declares it to BGCI, and it is not in the online catalogue of Montgomery Botanical Center.
  • United Kingdom: no British garden declares it to BGCI.

BGCI PlantSearch has no record of the species (checked on 26 October 2026), and no English-language grower’s report has been found.

Propagation

Macrozamia cranei is propagated by seed. As the plants are male or female, both sexes are needed and, in cultivation, hand pollination, to obtain fertile seed. As the stem does not branch, the species produces no offsets. No germination data specific to the species are documented. Wear gloves to clean the seeds, whose flesh is toxic.

Pests and diseases

No pest or disease specific to Macrozamia cranei is documented. For Macrozamia grown in Europe, growers’ forums mainly mention scale insects and rot in cold, wet soil (see the genus page).

Cold hardiness

No cultivation result is documented for Macrozamia cranei, anywhere in the world. The species does not appear in the hardiness ranking of Macrozamia relayed in 2014 on the French Fous de palmiers forum.

Mediterranean and European experience

No result has been published in Europe, in the ground or in a pot.

United Kingdom, United States and Australia

The Darling Downs have an annual mean temperature of 11.9 to 18.4 °C (53.4 to 65.1 °F) (Laidlaw and Forster, 2012), but no frost data have been published for the sites of the species, and no hardiness rating, even commercial, has been found. Any figure would be a guess, so none is given here. In Britain and in the colder parts of the United States, a pot kept frost-free in winter is the prudent choice for so rare a plant.

Toxicity and precautions

No toxicity data specific to Macrozamia cranei have been published, but the risk is well documented for the genus. Macrozamia contain toxic glycosides (cycasin, macrozamin), from which methylazoxymethanol is derived, a poison of the liver; cattle that eat the leaves can develop a locomotor disorder of the hind legs (Healy, 1967), which McKenzie (2006) describes as irreversible, ending in paralysis of the hindquarters, with no treatment.

Treat the plant as toxic: wear gloves to handle the seeds, keep them out of reach of children, dogs and livestock, and in case of ingestion contact a poison centre, a doctor or a vet without delay.

Traditional uses

No traditional use specific to Macrozamia cranei is documented. Other Macrozamia provided Aboriginal peoples with seeds that could be eaten after long processing (see the genus page).

Frequently asked questions

Who was Crane?

Ralph Crane, of Stanthorpe, a builder and amateur orchidologist. He showed the plant to botanists in 1992, and David Jones and Paul Forster named it after him in 1994.

Is it endangered?

Yes, it is Endangered. The IUCN (2022), Queensland and the federal EPBC Act all list it as Endangered; in 2012 none of its known populations was protected in a reserve.

How can it be told from Macrozamia occidua?

By its leaves and cones. Macrozamia cranei has longer leaves, 70 to 90 cm, longer leaflets that are glossy above, and green cones, never glaucous.

Does it form clumps?

No. Its underground stem stays single, unlike Macrozamia plurinervia and several related species that form clumps.

Is climate change a threat to it?

Yes, according to the models. Laidlaw and Forster (2012) predict a sharp reduction of its suitable habitat and of the share of that habitat in protected areas.

Can it be grown in Britain or the United States?

Nobody knows. No cultivation result has been published, and the species is not known in any botanic garden; a pot kept frost-free in winter would be the only prudent option.

Further reading on Succulentes

Sources

Reference sites

Bibliography

  • Jones, D.L. & Forster, P.I. (1994). Seven new species of Macrozamia section Parazamia (Miq.) Miq. (Zamiaceae section Parazamia) from Queensland. Austrobaileya 4(2): 269–288. [Protologue, pp. 273–275; full text.]
  • Laidlaw, M.J. & Forster, P.I. (2012). Climate predictions accelerate decline for threatened Macrozamia cycads from Queensland, Australia. Biology 1(3): 880–894. doi:10.3390/biology1030880 [Statuses, protection, projected effects of warming; full text (Europe PMC).]
  • Queensland Herbarium (2007). National Multi-species Recovery Plan for the cycads, Cycas megacarpa, Cycas ophiolitica, Macrozamia cranei, Macrozamia lomandroides, Macrozamia pauli-guilielmi and Macrozamia platyrhachis. [Cited by the Flora of Australia and WildNet.]
  • Hill, K.D. (1998). Cycadophyta. In: McCarthy, P.M. (ed.), Flora of Australia 48: 597–661, 717–719. ABRS/CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne. [Description; online version.]
  • Healy, P.J. (1967). Macrozamia poisoning. Institute of Inspectors of Stock of New South Wales Year Book. [Reprinted by Flock & Herd.]
  • McKenzie, R.A. (2006). Toxicology for Australian Veterinarians: cycads (Cycas, Macrozamia, Lepidozamia, Bowenia), pp. 282–288. Animal Health Australia, Australian Animal Pathology Standards Program (PDF): https://aapspextranet.animalhealthaustralia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/tav7_17_unknowntoxins_pt2.pdf [Australian veterinary reference text; describes the cattle syndrome as irreversible, ending in paralysis of the hindquarters, with no treatment.]
  • Bösenberg, J.D. (2022). Macrozamia cranei. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022: e.T41961A48716125. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T41961A48716125.en [Endangered, criterion C1; assessment dated 27 August 2020, from Crossref.]
  • Haynes, J.L. (2022). Etymological compendium of cycad names. Phytotaxa 550(1): 1–31. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.550.1.1 [Full name and dates of Ralph Crane, as given by The World List of Cycads.]
  • Calonje, M., Stevenson, D.W. & Osborne, R. (2026). The World List of Cycads, version 2026.08.15. Montgomery Botanical Center, Coral Gables. doi:10.5281/zenodo.21958524 [Reference list.]