Ceratozamia rosea

Ceratozamia rosea is a cycad of the mountains of northern Chiapas, in Mexico, known only from three localities in the municipality of Tila, where it grows on rocks on steep slopes in tropical rainforest between 400 and 600 m (about 1,310 to 1,970 ft). Described in 2023, this species of the genus Ceratozamia is named after a trait unique in the genus: its new leaves emerge a vivid purplish pink, the “Mexican pink”, before turning olive green. Its authors consider it Critically Endangered; the IUCN has not yet assessed it.

Key facts about Ceratozamia rosea

  • Accepted name: Ceratozamia rosea Pérez-Farr., Gut.Ortega & Vovides (2023), accepted by The World List of Cycads (version 2026.08.15) and by the World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP, the database behind POWO, read via GBIF)
  • Former names and synonyms: none
  • Family: Zamiaceae, order Cycadales
  • Common names: no English name; “piña de monte” in Chiapas
  • Natural range: Mexico, northern Chiapas (Montañas del Norte, municipality of Tila), three localities, 400 to 600 m
  • IUCN status: Not Evaluated; Critically Endangered (CR) proposed by its authors
  • CITES and other protection: CITES Appendix I (whole genus, since 1985); Annex A in the European Union, seeds included
  • Documented hardiness: no data (see Cold hardiness)
  • Light and soil: in the wild, a rock-dwelling plant of steep slopes in tropical rainforest, on luvisols and phaeozems; no published growing advice
  • Habit and adult size: slender trunk 12.5 to 23 cm tall; 5 to 15 arching leaves, 1 to 2.3 m long
  • In the UK, US and Australia: no garden declares it (see In cultivation)
  • Toxicity: no data for the species; its trunk is used in infusions by local healers, which does not prove it is safe; treat it as poisonous (see Toxicity and precautions)

How to recognise Ceratozamia rosea

The decisive feature is the colour of the new leaves: Mexican pink, that is purplish pink, with a whitish bloom when they emerge. According to the original description (García González and colleagues, 2023), Ceratozamia rosea is also distinguished by its arching adult leaves, reddish leaflet joints, a slender trunk that lengthens in adults, upright light yellow to green cones, and the reddish down of its male cone. The description, published by the Plazi treatment database, gives:

  • Trunk: rock-dwelling, unbranched, short or slender and elongated, cylindrical, upright then lying down with age, 12.5 to 23 cm tall and 10 to 14 cm across, covered in old leaf bases.
  • Leaves: 5 to 15 per crown, forming an open crown, upright then arching with age, 102 to 231.5 cm long and 49.5 to 73 cm wide; Mexican pink with a bloom when they emerge, unrolling like a crozier, then olive green. The petiole, 48 to 118 cm long, carries slender prickles; the rachis, pink when young and later green, is 52.5 to 117 cm long. The first leaves of seedlings carry a single pair of leaflets.
  • Leaflets: 11 to 45 pairs, linear, long oblanceolate or rarely oblong, leathery, slightly sickle-shaped, with an acute to drawn-out, asymmetrical tip and 25 to 34 faint veins; the point of attachment is reddish beneath and light yellow to light green above, according to the detailed description, whereas the diagnosis places the reddish colour on the upper side. The middle leaflets measure 25 to 39 cm by 4 to 6.5 cm and are spaced 3.7 to 8.6 cm apart.
  • Male cones: single, conical, upright, 14.5 to 19.3 cm long and 2.3 to 2.8 cm across, green at the base with reddish hairs when ripe; reddish, densely woolly stalk 4.2 to 5.2 cm long.
  • Female cones: single, cylindrical, upright, 9.2 to 19.5 cm long and 5.9 to 6.3 cm across, with a short point, green with a reddish down when ripe; short reddish stalk 3.7 to 6.9 cm long.
  • Seeds: egg-shaped, 2.1 to 2.25 cm long and 1.7 to 1.9 cm wide, with cream flesh before ripening and beige when ripe.

Hybrids

No natural or garden hybrid has been documented.

Possible confusion

The authors place the species in the Ceratozamia miqueliana species complex and compare it with three geographical neighbours, from which it differs first by the colour of its new leaves:

  • Ceratozamia sancheziae, of the Chiapas Highlands: linear to lance-shaped, papery leaflets; new leaves green or light reddish, which do not unroll like a crozier but are folded (key of 2023).
  • Ceratozamia zoquorum, of northern Chiapas, also recorded in the municipality of Tila by the 2022 monograph: oblong to oblanceolate, leathery leaflets; its new leaves are light green or brown, only the petiole and rachis being pink when they emerge.
  • Ceratozamia becerrae, of the Chiapas–Tabasco border: slightly sickle-shaped, oblong to broadly oblanceolate leaflets and light green new leaves.

According to the authors, several other qualitative and measured characters also separate Ceratozamia rosea from each of these species. A plant without new leaves or cones is hard to identify; its origin remains the best clue.

Taxonomy

Ceratozamia rosea is accepted by The World List of Cycads and by the WCVP, the database behind POWO (read via GBIF on 30 October 2026), which records it from south-eastern Mexico. It was described on 3 May 2023 in the journal Phytotaxa (595(1): 73–88; name published on page 79, figures 6–11), in an article by José García González, Miguel Ángel Pérez-Farrera, José Said Gutiérrez-Ortega, Andrew Vovides and Pedro Díaz Jiménez. The name itself is attributed to Pérez-Farrera, Gutiérrez-Ortega and Vovides.

Type and material studied

The holotype was collected on 5 May 2022 in the municipality of Tila, in the Montañas del Norte of Chiapas, by J. García-González and J. Pérez (no. 832). It is held at the Eizi Matuda herbarium (HEM), with isotypes at CHIP and XAL. Collections made in 2016, 2017, 2021 and 2022 complete the material studied.

The miqueliana complex

For the authors, this description suggests that the diversity of Ceratozamia in Chiapas is higher than previously thought. They publish with it a key to the members of the miqueliana complex, which also includes Ceratozamia euryphyllidia, Ceratozamia hondurensis and Ceratozamia santillanii. In that key, Ceratozamia rosea is the only member with long oblanceolate, leathery leaflets, new leaves that unroll like a crozier, and Mexican pink new leaves.

Etymology and history

The Latin epithet rosea, “pink”, refers to the most distinctive trait of the species: the Mexican pink colour of its new leaves, unique in the genus (original description, quoted by The World List of Cycads).

The first known collections date from 2016. No source documents the introduction of the species into cultivation; the authors call on botanic gardens to act as a “lifeboat” and conserve it away from the wild.

Common names

No English common name is recorded. According to the original description, local people call it “piña de monte”, which the authors translate as “forest pineapple”.

In the wild

Ceratozamia rosea is known only from three localities in the municipality of Tila, in the Montañas del Norte of Chiapas. It is a rock-dwelling plant of tropical rainforest, growing between 400 and 600 m, generally on steep slopes of about 35°. The soils are luvisols and phaeozems, over outcrops of Cretaceous, Palaeogene and Neogene marine sedimentary rocks.

The forest that shelters it includes Bursera simaruba, Ceiba pentandra, Cedrela odorata, Clusia guatemalensis and the palms Astrocaryum mexicanum and Sabal mauritiiformis; Chamaedorea palms and Bactris major grow in the shrub layer, and two other cycads, Zamia splendens and Zamia lacandona, in the herb layer.

Conservation status and regulation

Ceratozamia rosea has not been assessed on the IUCN Red List (The World List of Cycads, version 2026.08.15; no category in the Red List data distributed through GBIF, checked on 30 October 2026). Its authors consider that it must be treated as Critically Endangered (CR): the GeoCAT tool gives an extent of occurrence of 0.068 km² and an area of occupancy of 8 km², and each locality holds fewer than 100 adult plants, at low density. This proposal has no official standing until the IUCN publishes an assessment.

The threats are the conversion of the forest to pasture, maize fields and coffee plantations, and the removal of adult plants for traditional uses (see below). The authors consider its conservation in the wild and in botanic gardens urgent.

Like the whole genus, it has been covered by CITES Appendix I since 1 August 1985 (the genus had been in Appendix II since 1977), 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+ does not list the species under its own name, since it was described after the CITES checklist of cycads, but the listing covers the whole genus (“Ceratozamia spp.”) and therefore applies to it (checked on 30 October 2026). International trade in wild-collected plants for commercial purposes is banned; only artificially propagated plants with the required permits can be traded.

This general information does not replace the official texts: check the regulations in force before buying, importing or exchanging plants, and ask for proof of origin.

Growing Ceratozamia rosea

No growing advice specific to Ceratozamia rosea has been published, no grower has reported on it, and no source records it in cultivation.

Its habitat, rocky slopes in tropical rainforest at 400 to 600 m, points to warmth, partial shade and a very free-draining, mostly mineral mix. These pointers are drawn from the habitat and have not been confirmed by published trials.

Outdoor and in-ground cultivation

Only frost-free, warm and humid climates could suit it outdoors, such as southern Florida, Hawaii or tropical Queensland. No outdoor planting has been documented anywhere.

Container cultivation

Its slender trunk and modest number of leaves would suit a pot, in a free-draining mineral mix with warmth and bright shade, following the general practice for tropical Ceratozamia; no trial specific to the species exists.

In cultivation in the UK, US and Australia

No garden in the United Kingdom, the United States or Australia declares Ceratozamia rosea: BGCI PlantSearch lists no garden under this name, and the online catalogue of Montgomery Botanical Center, in Florida, has no accession under it (both queried on 30 October 2026).

Propagation

No data exist for the species. Like all Ceratozamia, it has separate male and female plants; it is propagated from fresh seed after pollination, by hand in cultivation. According to the description, the first leaf of seedlings carries a single pair of leaflets. Handle seeds wearing gloves.

Pests and diseases

No pest or disease specific to the species has been documented. The usual risks for Ceratozamia in cultivation are rot in cold, sodden soil and scale insects.

Cold hardiness

No cold-hardiness data exist for Ceratozamia rosea. It is a plant of tropical rainforest at 400 to 600 m, to be kept frost-free until documented trials exist.

Mediterranean and European experience

No cultivation result has been published in Europe, and the Jardin zoologique tropical in La Londe-les-Maures (Var, on the French Riviera) has published no observation of this species.

United Kingdom, United States and Australia

No dated cold record and no commercial hardiness rating have been published. In the UK it would be a plant for a heated glasshouse.

Toxicity and precautions

No toxicity study specific to Ceratozamia rosea has been published. The risk is well documented in other cycads: their tissues, and above all their seeds, 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. Healers in Chiapas nevertheless prepare infusions from its trunk (see Traditional uses); this use says nothing about doses or risks and does not prove that the plant is safe. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, treat the plant as poisonous: keep seeds and leaves out of reach of children and animals, wear gloves to clean seeds, and if any part is swallowed, call a poison centre, a doctor or a vet straight away.

Traditional uses

According to testimonies gathered by the authors of the description, the species has two local uses. A healer collects plants and prepares infusions from trunk extracts, which the patient drinks to regulate menstruation. In another nearby locality, the plant is used as a talisman to choose the sex of a child before birth: the parents look for a plant whose trunk resembles the male or female genitals. These practices kill adult plants and weigh on the demography of the wild populations.

Frequently asked questions

Why is it called rosea?

Because of its new leaves, which emerge a vivid purplish pink, the “Mexican pink”. This is unique in the genus Ceratozamia.

Where does it grow?

Only in northern Chiapas, Mexico. It is known from three localities in the municipality of Tila, between 400 and 600 m.

Do its leaves stay pink?

No. They turn olive green as they mature; the rachis stays pink while the leaf is young, and the leaflet joints are reddish.

How does it differ from Ceratozamia sancheziae?

By the new leaves and the leaflets. Ceratozamia sancheziae has green or light reddish new leaves and papery leaflets; those of Ceratozamia rosea are Mexican pink and leathery respectively.

Is it endangered?

Yes, seriously, according to its authors, who propose Critically Endangered. It is known from only three small localities, threatened by forest clearance and the removal of adult plants; the IUCN has not yet assessed it.

Can I find it in cultivation?

No source records it. The whole genus is listed in CITES Appendix I: only artificially propagated plants with their documents can be traded.

Is it poisonous?

Assume so. Its trunk is used in traditional infusions, but the cycads that have been studied contain serious toxins; do not consume it.

Further reading on Succulentes

Sources

Reference sites

Bibliography

  • García González, J., Pérez-Farrera, M.A., Gutiérrez-Ortega, J.S., Vovides, A.P. & Díaz Jiménez, P. (2023). Ceratozamia rosea (Zamiaceae): A new species from the Northern Mountains of Chiapas, Mexico. Phytotaxa 595(1): 73–88. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.595.1.5 [Original description; abstract, taxonomic treatment and key published by Plazi.]
  • 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 [Monograph of the genus, earlier than the description; neighbouring species; open access.]
  • 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.]