Ceratozamia huastecorum: a Rare Cycad of Northern Veracruz

Ceratozamia huastecorum is a small cycad of northern Veracruz, Mexico, known only from the Sierra de Otontepec, in the Huasteca region, where it grows in cloud forest between 800 and 1,300 m (about 2,620 to 4,270 ft). This species of the genus Ceratozamia was described in 2003 and has never had another name. It closely resembles Ceratozamia latifolia, but its young leaves emerge light green and its leaflets are leathery. Assessed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN, it is almost absent from collections outside Mexico.

Key facts about Ceratozamia huastecorum

Accepted name: Ceratozamia huastecorum Avendaño, Vovides & Cast.-Campos (2003), 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: none; the first collections were provisionally referred to Ceratozamia microstrobila
Family: Zamiaceae, order Cycadales
Common names: “palmilla” (Spanish, Veracruz); no English name
Natural range: Mexico, northern Veracruz, Sierra de Otontepec, 800 to 1,300 m
IUCN status: Critically Endangered (CR B1ab(iii,v)), 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: no data (see Cold hardiness)
Light and soil: in the wild, partial shade in windswept cloud forest, on rocky, humus-rich soils over basalt
Habit and adult size: trunk 12 to 50 cm, half underground; 3 to 7 leaves, 50 to 80 cm long
In the UK, US and Australia: no garden declares it
Toxicity: no data specific to the species; treat it as poisonous, like all cycads (see Toxicity and precautions)

How to recognise Ceratozamia huastecorum

It is a small Ceratozamia with few, short leaves, light-green young leaves, and oblong, leathery leaflets with an asymmetrical tip. The 2022 monograph of the genus, by Lilí Martínez-Domínguez and colleagues, describes it as follows:

Trunk: 20 to 50 cm long and 14 to 20 cm in diameter, half underground, upright then lying down; persistent, triangular, reddish-brown cataphylls, covered in brown down when they emerge.
Leaves: 4 to 7, rising, 50 to 80 cm long; light green with greyish-white hairs when they emerge, then hairless. The petiole, 20 to 40 cm long, bears 10 to 30 slender prickles 2 to 3.5 mm long.
Leaflets: 8 to 18 pairs, opposite to nearly opposite, oblong, leathery, flat, green and hairless above, glaucous beneath; median leaflets 12 to 22 cm long and 2.5 to 6 cm wide, 1.6 to 5 cm apart.
Male cones: solitary, cylindrical, upright, 15 to 18 cm long and 2.5 to 3.2 cm across, yellowish green, then yellowish cream with blackish hairs; stalk 6 to 23 cm long.
Female cones: solitary, upright, 13.5 to 18 cm long and 6 to 10 cm across, green, then dark green with blackish hairs; 54 to 99 scales in 9 or 10 vertical rows, with two straight horns 4 to 5.6 mm long.
Seeds: egg-shaped, small, 1.1 to 1.5 cm long, light brown when ripe.

The original description (Avendaño, Vovides and Castillo-Campos, 2003) gives smaller figures for the plant itself: an almost globular, upright, half-buried trunk 12 to 13 cm long and 11 to 13.5 cm across (four plants measured); 3 to 5 hairless, rising leaves 50 to 73 cm long; a petiole 19 to 41 cm long, woolly at the base, with a few prickles that get smaller towards the tip of the leaf; 5 to 16 pairs of leathery, oblanceolate leaflets, sometimes with two small teeth near the asymmetrical tip, glossy green above, 6.5 to 21 cm long and 3.2 to 6.5 cm wide, with 30 to 38 veins; a pale green male cone 16 cm long; an olive-green female cone 13.5 cm long; and oval seeds 1.2 cm long. It also records 16 chromosomes (2n = 16), and notes that in a glasshouse, under uniform conditions, leaf and leaflet length change little.

Hybrids

No hybrid, natural or garden-made, has been documented.

Possible confusion

The 2022 monograph stresses its close resemblance to Ceratozamia latifolia, of San Luis Potosí, which grows further west in the Sierra Madre Oriental. The differences:

Ceratozamia huastecorum: young leaves light green when they emerge, leathery leaflets; larger female cone, with 9 or 10 vertical rows of scales;
Ceratozamia latifolia: young leaves reddish brown, papery leaflets; female cone with 4 to 7 rows of scales.

The two species do not grow together, so the origin of a plant usually settles the question. The original description also provided a key to separate it from Ceratozamia microstrobila (rachis unarmed, now part of Ceratozamia latifolia), Ceratozamia miqueliana and Ceratozamia morettii, whose leaflets are 25 to 35 cm long and whose leaves reach 100 to 140 cm.

Taxonomy

Ceratozamia huastecorum is accepted by The World List of Cycads, by Species+ and by the WCVP, which records its publication in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 141, page 395 (2003), and places it on the Gulf slope of Mexico. The species has no synonym. It was described in 2003 by S. Avendaño, A.P. Vovides and G. Castillo-Campos, in an article titled “A new species of Ceratozamia (Zamiaceae, Cycadales) from Veracruz, Mexico” (volume 141, pages 395 to 398).

The 2022 monograph only compares it with Ceratozamia latifolia. The original description saw its closest relative in Ceratozamia morettii, of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, more than 200 km to the south: the cones are of similar size, but Ceratozamia huastecorum has a smaller trunk, shorter leaves (under 80 cm, against 100 to 140 cm) and shorter leaflets (6.5 to 21 cm, against 25 to 35 cm). The authors placed it in a group of broad-leaflet species of north-eastern Mexico, probably of recent origin. Collected in the 1980s by Gonzalo Castillo-Campos, the plant was first provisionally referred to Ceratozamia microstrobila; the study of fertile material and of plants grown at the Francisco Javier Clavijero Botanic Garden in Xalapa led to its description as a new species.

Etymology and history

The epithet huastecorum means “of the Huastecs”: it refers to the Huasteca, the cultural and ethnic region of northern Veracruz where the species grows (The World List of Cycads; 2022 monograph).

The holotype (Castillo-Campos and colleagues 2567) was collected on 16 December 1981 in the municipality of Tepetzintla, at 1,300 m, and is kept at the herbarium of the Instituto de Ecología in Xalapa (XAL). The original description and The World List of Cycads give it as a male plant; the 2022 monograph calls it female. The original description also cites two paratypes, one male and one female, the latter dated 1982 in the article and 1981 in the monograph. The exact locality was deliberately left out of the description to prevent illegal collecting. More than twenty years thus passed between the first collections and the description of the species.

Common names

No English name is recorded. In Veracruz, the species is called “palmilla” (“little palm”), according to the ethnobotanical study of Bonta and colleagues (2019) cited by the 2022 monograph.

In the wild

Ceratozamia huastecorum is endemic to the Sierra de Otontepec, a massif of northern Veracruz. According to the 2022 monograph, it grows in cloud forest, on clay soils with rocky outcrops, between 800 and 1,300 m; all the specimens examined come from the municipality of Tepetzintla.

The original description places it on an isolated, “tepui-like” table mountain of the Huasteca Veracruzana, between 900 and 1,300 m, in the understorey of a relict cloud forest dominated by oaks (Quercus acutifolia, Quercus skinneri), Carya palmeri, Clethra mexicana, Turpinia insignis and Styrax glabrescens. The plants grow in partial shade, in inaccessible places along the crest, on a rocky basalt substrate (stony lithosols and humus-rich luvisols), lashed by moisture-laden winds and often in mist; the vegetation there is stunted by the wind. No study of its populations, pollination or phenology has been published.

Conservation status and regulation

Ceratozamia huastecorum is assessed as Critically Endangered (CR, criterion B1ab(iii,v)) on the IUCN Red List, in an assessment by J.D. Bösenberg published in 2022: its range is tiny, and both the quality of its habitat and the number of mature plants are declining. 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 gave the same category under criterion B2ab(iii,v).

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). International trade in wild-collected plants for commercial purposes is prohibited.

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 huastecorum

No growing advice specific to Ceratozamia huastecorum has been published, and no grower’s report is documented; the species is very rare in cultivation. The only plants documented in a garden are those of the Clavijero Botanic Garden in Xalapa, which helped to describe it. Its habitat, a windswept mid-mountain cloud forest, suggests partial shade, a humus-rich but free-draining substrate, steady moisture and no standing water; these pointers come from the habitat, not from growing trials.

Outdoor and in-ground cultivation

No outdoor planting has been documented. Mild, humid climates with little or no frost, such as coastal California or the subtropical east coast of Australia, would come closest to its habitat; whether it tolerates frost is unknown.

Container cultivation

Its small size would make it a convenient pot plant, and the original description notes that plants grown under glass kept stable leaf and leaflet lengths. Use a gritty, humus-rich compost and keep it frost-free until trials show otherwise.

In cultivation in the UK, US and Australia

No garden in the United Kingdom, the United States or Australia declares Ceratozamia huastecorum to BGCI PlantSearch, and the name does not appear in the living collection of Montgomery Botanical Center (both checked on 30 October 2026). The only garden that declares it to BGCI is the Francisco Javier Clavijero Botanic Garden in Xalapa (Veracruz, Mexico).

Propagation

No data specific to the species. Like all Ceratozamia, it has separate male and female plants and is propagated from fresh seed after pollination, done by hand in cultivation. Clean the seeds wearing gloves.

Pests and diseases

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

Cold hardiness

No cold-tolerance data exist for Ceratozamia huastecorum. It grows in cloud forest between 800 and 1,300 m in northern Veracruz, but no observation says whether it tolerates frost.

Mediterranean and European experience

No growing result has been published in France or Italy, in the ground or in a pot, and the Jardin zoologique tropical in La Londe-les-Maures (Var, on the French Riviera) has published no observation of it. Its resemblance to Ceratozamia latifolia, which tolerates light frosts, does not allow its hardiness to be inferred.

United Kingdom, United States and Australia

No cold record and no commercial hardiness rating have been published. Until trials exist, keep it frost-free; in the UK it is a plant for a cool or heated glasshouse.

Toxicity and precautions

No toxicity data exist for the species. 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

The 2022 monograph records no use for this species. Its local name, “palmilla”, is cited by an ethnobotanical study without any associated use.

Frequently asked questions

Where does Ceratozamia huastecorum grow?

Only in the Sierra de Otontepec, in northern Veracruz (Mexico), in cloud forest between 800 and 1,300 m.

How does it differ from Ceratozamia latifolia?

By the colour of the young leaves and the texture of the leaflets. Ceratozamia huastecorum has light-green new leaves and leathery leaflets; Ceratozamia latifolia has reddish-brown new leaves and papery leaflets.

Where does its name come from?

From the Huasteca, the cultural region of northern Veracruz where it grows: huastecorum means “of the Huastecs”.

Is it cold-hardy?

Nobody knows. No cold data exist for this species; it is wiser to grow it frost-free.

Is it endangered?

Yes. It is assessed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN (2022) and lives in a single small massif.

Can it be bought freely?

Not without documents. Like the whole genus, it is listed in CITES Appendix I and Annex A of the EU regulation, seeds included, and no commercial offer has been documented.

Is it poisonous?

It should be assumed so. No analysis exists for the species, but the cycads studied contain serious toxins, especially in the seeds.

Sources

Reference sites

The World List of Cycads (version 2026.08.15), Ceratozamia huastecorum: https://cycadlist.org/scientific_name/26 — authors, publication, type, range, IUCN status, etymology. Checklist of the IUCN Cycad Specialist Group, reliable; reread on 30 October 2026.
World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew), via GBIF, Ceratozamia huastecorum: https://api.gbif.org/v1/species/207874511 — accepted name, Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 141: 395 (2003), Gulf slope of Mexico. Kew data, the basis of POWO, distributed by GBIF; consulted on 30 October 2026.
PubMed Central, monograph of Ceratozamia (PhytoKeys 208): https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9849018/ — description, type, range, habitat, common name, status, comparison with Ceratozamia latifolia. Peer-reviewed article, open access.
The Cycad Society, copy of the original description: https://www.cycad.org/documents/descriptions/Ceratozamia/Ceratozamia-huastecorum.pdf — diagnosis, description, type and paratypes, habitat, affinities, key. Specialist society, faithful copy of the primary source; reread on 30 October 2026.
Species+ (UNEP-WCMC), Ceratozamia huastecorum: https://speciesplus.net/species#/taxon_concepts/65509/legal — CITES Appendix I for the whole genus since 1 August 1985, Annex A in the European Union. Official CITES and EU database; checked on 30 October 2026.
BGCI PlantSearch: https://plantsearch.bgci.org/ — a single garden (Xalapa, Mexico) declares the species. Global database of garden lists; queried on 30 October 2026.

Bibliography

Avendaño, S., Vovides, A.P. & Castillo-Campos, G. (2003). A new species of Ceratozamia (Zamiaceae, Cycadales) from Veracruz, Mexico. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 141(3): 395–398. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1095-8339.2003.00145.x [Original description. Primary source.]
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, comparison with Ceratozamia latifolia; 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 [Source of the name “palmilla”, cited by the monograph.]
Bösenberg, J.D. (2022). Ceratozamia huastecorum. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022: e.T178875A69865530. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T178875A69865530.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.]