Ceratozamia latifolia

Ceratozamia latifolia is a cycad of north-eastern Mexico, widespread in the mountains of the state of San Luis Potosí, where it grows in pine-oak forest, oak woodland and cloud forest between 600 and 1,100 m (about 1,970 to 3,610 ft). This species of the genus Ceratozamia stands out for its broad, paper-thin leaflets and its reddish-brown to chocolate-coloured young leaves. It was described in the 1840s by Friedrich Miquel, and plants once sold as Ceratozamia microstrobila now belong to it. Assessed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, it is also one of the cycads most closely tied to the life of Teenek communities, who still prepare its seeds as food.

Key facts about Ceratozamia latifolia

  • Accepted name: Ceratozamia latifolia Miq. (1848), accepted by The World List of Cycads (version 2026.08.15), by Species+ and by the World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP, the database behind POWO, read via GBIF)
  • Former names and synonyms: Ceratozamia microstrobila Vovides & J.D.Rees; Ceratozamia mexicana var. latifolia (Miq.) J.Schust.; the WCVP adds Ceratozamia karsteniana Dyer
  • Family: Zamiaceae, order Cycadales
  • Common names: no English name; “chamalillo” and “corosillo” (Spanish), “konlif” (Teenek), in San Luis Potosí
  • Natural range: Mexico, mountains of San Luis Potosí, 600 to 1,100 m
  • IUCN status: Vulnerable (VU A2cd), assessment published in 2022
  • CITES and other protection: CITES Appendix I (whole genus, since 1985); Annex A in the European Union, seeds included
  • Documented hardiness: −2 °C (28.4 °F) and −3 °C (26.6 °F) taken by potted plants outdoors in Italy; no in-ground trial published (see Cold hardiness)
  • Light and soil: partial shade, humus-rich, free-draining soil
  • Habit and adult size: short trunk, 5 to 15 cm long and 10 to 25 cm across, partly underground; 1 to 8 drooping leaves, 0.5 to 1.6 m long
  • In the UK, US and Australia: declared by 3 British, 28 American and 7 Australian gardens to BGCI PlantSearch, under this name or its synonyms (see In cultivation)
  • Toxicity: seeds eaten in Mexico only after lengthy detoxification; treat the plant as poisonous (see Toxicity and precautions)

How to recognise Ceratozamia latifolia

Three features point to Ceratozamia latifolia: reddish-brown young leaves, broad, very thin oblong leaflets, and a petiole with no prickles or almost none. The 2022 monograph of the genus describes it as follows:

  • Trunk: short, 5 to 15 cm long and 10 to 25 cm in diameter, partly underground, upright; reddish-brown cataphylls with brown down.
  • Leaves: 1 to 8, drooping, 53 to 163 cm long; reddish brown with greyish-white hairs when they emerge, then hairless. Petiole 25 to 80 cm long, usually unarmed, rarely with 1 to 3 tiny prickles; axis unarmed.
  • Leaflets: 7 to 22 pairs, opposite to nearly opposite, oblong, sickle-shaped at the base, papery, green and hairless, with an asymmetrical tip; median leaflets 12 to 28 cm long and 2.3 to 5.1 cm wide.
  • Male cones: solitary, 10 to 20 cm long and 2.1 to 2.5 cm across, greenish yellow, then reddish brown.
  • Female cones: solitary, rounded, 6.5 to 16 cm long and 5.5 to 8 cm across, greyish light brown with brown hairs when ripe, ending in a small point; 4 to 9 scales per row, in 5 to 7 rows.
  • Seeds: egg-shaped, 1.5 to 2.2 cm long, pinkish white before ripening, light brown when ripe.

The 1983 description of Ceratozamia microstrobila, now included in this species, gives a trunk almost underground, up to 24 cm long; 2 to 4 unarmed leaves up to 70 cm long; lance-shaped, leathery, glossy leaflets 15 to 18 cm long and 2.8 to 3.2 cm wide; a brown male cone 17 cm long; and a greenish-brown female cone only 6 cm long, which gave the name “microstrobila” (small cone). In cultivation, a grower in Ravenna (Italy) describes chocolate-coloured new leaves that later turn light green.

Hybrids

No hybrid, natural or garden-made, has been described in a publication.

Possible confusion

Ceratozamia latifolia is often sold under other names: Italian growers have identified as Ceratozamia latifolia plants received as Ceratozamia mexicana, and a French grower recognised it in a batch sold as “Zamia sp. Venezuela”. The closest species:

  • Ceratozamia mexicana: lance-shaped, leathery leaflets and a petiole with many slender prickles; its young leaves are green according to the 2022 monograph, but Vovides and colleagues (2016) describe reddish-brown emerging leaflets in a population of the municipality of Totutla (Veracruz), close to the type, so leaf colour alone does not separate the two species;
  • Ceratozamia chamberlainii, of the same region: armed petiole, thicker leaflets; the 2022 monograph separates Ceratozamia latifolia by its unarmed or almost unarmed petiole, papery leaflets and small horns on the male cone scales (up to 2 mm);
  • Ceratozamia huastecorum, of northern Veracruz: light-green young leaves, leathery leaflets, and larger female cones with 9 or 10 rows of scales;
  • Ceratozamia reesii, of the municipality of Xilitla: separated from Ceratozamia latifolia in 2022; its populations had been called latifolia since the 1980s.
  • Ceratozamia hildae, of the same mountains: leaflets grouped in clusters.

Taxonomy

Ceratozamia latifolia is accepted by The World List of Cycads, by Species+ and by the WCVP, which records its publication in a journal of the Royal Netherlands Institute (Tijdschrift voor de Wis- en Natuurkundige Wetenschappen 1: 206) and places it in north-eastern Mexico. The World List of Cycads dates the issue to May–December 1848; the 2022 article by Vovides and colleagues gives 1847.

Its name has a tangled history. According to Vovides and colleagues (2022), Miquel described it from a young plant of unknown origin, grown at the Amsterdam botanic garden after coming from Belgium, without a type specimen or an illustration. The name long remained doubtful, often applied to a plant probably from Veracruz. J. Schuster made it a variety of Ceratozamia mexicana in 1932. In 1986, D.W. Stevenson and S. Sabato designated a neotype collected in 1983 in San Luis Potosí, at about 650 m (New York Botanical Garden herbarium); The World List of Cycads notes that the locality cited in 1986 was wrong and corrects it from the specimen label.

That neotype belonged to a population already described in 1983 by Andrew Vovides and John D. Rees as Ceratozamia microstrobila, from the municipality of Ciudad del Maíz; by priority, Ceratozamia microstrobila became a synonym of Ceratozamia latifolia, which The World List of Cycads and the WCVP both accept. Because the 1986 paper gave no description, taxonomists and growers then applied the name latifolia to several different populations of San Luis Potosí; in 2022, Vovides and colleagues separated those of Xilitla as Ceratozamia reesii. For the reader, a plant labelled Ceratozamia microstrobila is now a Ceratozamia latifolia, while an old “latifolia” from Xilitla may be a Ceratozamia reesii. The WCVP also lists Ceratozamia karsteniana Dyer (1884) as a synonym, a name not mentioned by The World List of Cycads.

Etymology and history

The epithet comes from the Latin latus, “broad”, and folium, “leaf”, and refers to the broad leaflets (The World List of Cycads; 2022 monograph). Nothing is known of the wild origin of Miquel’s plant. The original description of Ceratozamia microstrobila placed its type, collected in 1974 by John Rees, at 850 m in the municipality of Ciudad del Maíz, on shallow, humus-rich red clay over limestone, in the transition between low deciduous forest and mixed oak woodland, alongside Dioon edule and Zamia fischeri; its authors already warned that these small eastern Ceratozamia were being removed rapidly by commercial collectors.

Common names

No English name is recorded. In San Luis Potosí, the 2022 monograph records “chamalillo” and “corosillo”, from a herbarium label, and “konlif” in Teenek (Huastec), from the ethnobotanical study of Bonta and colleagues (2019). “Chamalillo” is also used for Ceratozamia hildae in Querétaro, so it is not specific to this species.

In the wild

According to the 2022 monograph, Ceratozamia latifolia is widespread in the mountains of San Luis Potosí, in pine-oak forest, oak woodland and cloud forest, between 600 and 1,100 m; The World List of Cycads records it only from that state. The specimens examined come from the municipalities of Alaquines, Cárdenas, Ciudad del Maíz, El Naranjo, Rayón and Tamasopo.

It also lives alongside farming. In the Sierra Teenek, Bonta and colleagues (2019) photographed Ceratozamia latifolia deliberately kept along the edge of a swidden maize field in 2016: the plants are believed to protect and nurture the maize, and seedlings found among the maize are spared during weeding.

Conservation status and regulation

Ceratozamia latifolia is assessed as Vulnerable (VU, criterion A2cd) on the IUCN Red List, in an assessment by J.D. Bösenberg published in 2022, reflecting a past decline of the populations. The category is given by The World List of Cycads and by the Red List data distributed through GBIF (checked on 30 October 2026). The 2022 monograph still cited an earlier, more severe listing (Endangered, A2cd+4cd), but considered that the current circumscription and known range justified exactly this change to Vulnerable.

Like the whole genus, it has been covered by CITES Appendix I since 1 August 1985, and by Annex A of Regulation (EC) No 338/97 in the European Union (annexes now set by Regulation (EU) 2026/1383, applicable since 29 June 2026), seeds included (Species+, checked on 30 October 2026).

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

Growing Ceratozamia latifolia

Ceratozamia latifolia is a cycad for partial shade, not demanding in cultivation, which European growers find fairly easy. Its thin leaves dislike scorching sun, wind and hot, dry spells. No institution has published growing advice for it; the notes below come from growers’ forums.

  • Light: partial shade; a grower in Ravenna even advises shade rather than half-shade. Results vary with climate: in the Tarn (south-west France) a large potted plant shaded until early afternoon saw its leaves pale and then scorch in spring 2014, while on the coast near Marseille another grew one in full sun facing the sea without trouble.
  • Soil: humus-rich and free-draining, for example good potting compost with coarse sand.
  • Watering: regular in summer without waterlogging; keep it barely moist in winter.
  • Coning: slow to come in cultivation; a French grower reported in 2021 that his plant coned for the first time after twenty years, once he started overwintering it in a frost-free cool greenhouse.

Outdoor and in-ground cultivation

Ganna Walska Lotusland, in Montecito (California), names Ceratozamia latifolia among the notable species of its cycad garden, which is planted outdoors; it publishes no growing details. No other documented outdoor planting with results exists. In Mediterranean-type climates, a sheltered, partly shaded spot in well-drained soil, with protection ready for frosty nights, is the safest option.

Container cultivation

Its short trunk suits a container well, and most European plants are grown in pots, outdoors in summer and sheltered from rain and wind, or kept frost-free, in winter. Leaves on the largest plants can exceed a metre.

In cultivation in the UK, US and Australia

Under this name or its synonyms, 53 gardens worldwide declare the species to BGCI PlantSearch (queried on 30 October 2026). In the United Kingdom, these are the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Oxford Botanic Garden and the University of Bristol Botanic Garden; Cambridge University Botanic Garden’s online catalogue lists an accession from 2020. In the United States, 28 gardens declare it, among them Montgomery Botanical Center (Coral Gables, Florida; 17 accessions in its online catalogue), Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, the Huntington, Lotusland, San Diego Botanic Garden, the University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley, Denver Botanic Gardens, the New York Botanical Garden and the United States Botanic Garden. In Australia, the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (Melbourne), the University of Melbourne’s System Garden, the Botanic Garden of Adelaide, the Cairns and Mackay botanic gardens and the Hunter Region Botanic Gardens declare it. Some of these entries still use the names Ceratozamia microstrobila or Ceratozamia mexicana var. latifolia, and plants from Xilitla may be Ceratozamia reesii.

Propagation

From fresh seed, after a female plant has been pollinated by a male, usually by hand in cultivation. Clean the seeds wearing gloves, since the flesh around them is toxic, and sow them warm in a free-draining mix. No offsets have been reported.

Pests and diseases

No pest specific to the species has been documented. The main risk in cultivation is rot in cold, waterlogged soil.

Cold hardiness

Ceratozamia latifolia takes light frosts without damage when grown in a pot. No in-ground result has been published; the available data come from Italy.

Mediterranean and European experience

  • A grower in the Castelli Romani (Lazio, Italy) reports on the Tropicamente forum that his potted Ceratozamia latifolia, left outdoors, coped well with −2 °C (28.4 °F) in December 2009, while his bananas froze.
  • A grower in Ravenna (Emilia-Romagna, Italy; USDA zone 8a/8b according to him) reports on the same forum that his young plants, raised from Spanish seed, took −3 °C (26.6 °F) without any mark in winter 2008–2009; in winter 2011–2012, a plant received as Ceratozamia microstrobila suffered no damage at −2 °C (28.4 °F) in a cold, double-skinned polytunnel, briefly heated when it was −8 °C (17.6 °F) outside.

No cold record has been published in France, and the Jardin zoologique tropical in La Londe-les-Maures (Var, on the French Riviera) has published no observation of this species. In practice, in a pot, shelter from rain and wind has been enough for a few degrees of frost.

United Kingdom, United States and Australia

No dated cold record from a named place and no commercial hardiness rating have been published for this species. Lotusland grows it outdoors in coastal southern California without giving temperatures. In the UK it is a plant for a cool or heated glasshouse.

Toxicity and precautions

The seeds of Ceratozamia latifolia are eaten in Mexico, but only after lengthy preparation to remove the toxins. Bonta and colleagues (2019) photographed, in the Sierra Teenek in 2016, konlif seeds ready to be detoxified and processed into wet meal for tortillas, as is done with maize. For the cycads of the region in general, they describe repeated washing, leaching and boiling; this is precisely what shows that the raw plant is toxic.

No toxicity study specific to the species has been published. The risk is documented in other cycads: their seeds and leaves contain toxic glycosides (cycasin, macrozamin), from which methylazoxymethanol is derived, a compound harmful to the liver and nervous system. Dogs, livestock and people can be seriously poisoned. Treat the plant as poisonous, keep seeds and leaves out of reach of children and animals, and if any part is swallowed, call a poison centre, a doctor or a vet straight away.

Traditional uses

In the Sierra Teenek (San Luis Potosí), konlif seeds are still prepared as meal for tortillas by a few of the poorest residents, a food that has nearly vanished (Bonta and colleagues, 2019; 2022 monograph). In the region, cycad seeds help families through the months when the previous year’s maize stores have run out, typically from March to June. The plant is also linked with maize in Teenek belief and protected in the fields. These uses are mentioned for their ethnobotanical interest and are in no way advice.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Ceratozamia latifolia and Ceratozamia microstrobila?

None today. Ceratozamia microstrobila, described in 1983, is a synonym of Ceratozamia latifolia for The World List of Cycads and the WCVP, so plants sold under the old name are Ceratozamia latifolia.

How do I tell Ceratozamia latifolia from Ceratozamia mexicana?

Mainly by the leaflets and the petiole. Ceratozamia latifolia has reddish-brown new leaves, broad thin leaflets and an almost unarmed petiole; Ceratozamia mexicana has leathery lance-shaped leaflets and a spiny petiole. The colour of its new leaves is not a reliable test: the 2022 monograph describes them as green, whereas a 2016 study describes reddish-brown ones in a population of the municipality of Totutla (Veracruz), close to the type.

Is it cold-hardy?

Slightly. Potted plants have taken −2 to −3 °C (28.4 to 26.6 °F) without damage in Italy, but no in-ground trial has been published; outside mild areas, keep it in a pot and frost-free.

Can it take full sun?

Usually not well. Its thin leaflets pale and scorch in strong afternoon sun, as one grower in south-west France found, although another grows it in full sun by the sea. Partial shade is the safest choice.

Are its seeds edible?

Not raw. In Mexico they are eaten only after long detoxification, by repeated washing, leaching and boiling. Never try it yourself.

Is it endangered?

Yes, it is assessed as Vulnerable by the IUCN (2022), the least severe category among the Ceratozamia assessed. Like the whole genus, it is protected by CITES Appendix I.

Further reading on Succulentes

Sources

Reference sites

Bibliography

  • Miquel, F.A.W. (1848). [Description of Ceratozamia latifolia.] Tijdschrift voor de Wis- en Natuurkundige Wetenschappen, uitgegeven door de Eerste Klasse van het Koninklijk Nederlandsche Instituut 1: 206. [Original description; reference given by The World List of Cycads.]
  • Stevenson, D.W. & Sabato, S. (1986). [Typification of names in Ceratozamia.] Taxon 35(3): 579. [Designation of the neotype; reference given by The World List of Cycads and the 2022 monograph.]
  • Vovides, A.P. & Rees, J.D. (1983). Ceratozamia microstrobila (Zamiaceae), a new species from San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Madroño 30(1): 39–42. [Original description of the synonym.]
  • Vovides, A.P., Pérez-Farrera, M.A., Salinas-Rodríguez, M.M., Galicia, S., Díaz-Jiménez, P., Calonje, M. & Gutiérrez-Ortega, J.S. (2022). Morphological and anatomical analyses clarify the species definition of Ceratozamia latifolia Miq. (Zamiaceae) and lead to the description of a new species: Ceratozamia reesii. Phytotaxa 575(3): 224–252. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.575.3.2 [History of the name; abstract.]
  • Martínez-Domínguez, L., Nicolalde-Morejón, F., Vergara-Silva, F. & Stevenson, D.W. (2022). Monograph of Ceratozamia (Zamiaceae, Cycadales): an endangered genus. PhytoKeys 208: 1–102. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.208.80382 [Description, range, common names, status; open access.]
  • Vovides, A.P., Stevenson, D.W., Pérez-Farrera, M.A., López, S. & Avendaño, S. (2016). What is Ceratozamia mexicana (Zamiaceae)? Botanical Sciences 94(2): 419–429. https://doi.org/10.17129/botsci.449 [Identity of Ceratozamia mexicana; colour of the young leaflets in a population of the municipality of Totutla; open access.]
  • Bonta, M., Pulido-Silva, M.T., Diego-Vargas, T., Vite-Reyes, A., Vovides, A.P. & Cibrián-Jaramillo, A. (2019). Ethnobotany of Mexican and northern Central American cycads (Zamiaceae). Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 15: 4. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-018-0282-z [Uses and local knowledge; open access.]
  • Bösenberg, J.D. (2022). Ceratozamia latifolia. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022: e.T212187681A69865966. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T212187681A69865966.en [Red List assessment; category confirmed by GBIF.]
  • 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.]