Zamia sinuensis

Zamia sinuensis is a cycad of Colombia, known from a single population in the basin of the Sinú River, in the municipality of Tierralta (department of Córdoba), inside Paramillo National Natural Park, at 180 to 187 m. Described in 2021, this species of the genus Zamia resembles Zamia manicata but differs in its strongly wavy leaflets, which lack the stalk and collar that mark that species. Only five plants have been seen, and the IUCN has not yet assessed it.

Key facts about Zamia sinuensis

  • Accepted name: Zamia sinuensis Calonje & J.Castro (2021), 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: none attested, in English or in any other language
  • Natural range: Colombia, department of Córdoba (municipality of Tierralta, Paramillo National Natural Park), a single known population at 180 to 187 m
  • IUCN status: Not Evaluated; the authors of the description recommend Data Deficient (DD)
  • CITES and other protection: CITES Appendix II (whole genus, since 1977; seeds exempt under annotation #4); Annex B in the European Union; the known population lies in a national park
  • Documented hardiness: no data (see Cold hardiness)
  • Light and soil: in the wild, disturbed tropical moist forest; no published growing advice specific to the species
  • Habit and adult size: underground or half-buried stem 10 to 30 cm long, sometimes with three heads; three to six leaves 1.8 to 3.1 m long
  • In the UK, US and Australia: no record in botanic garden collections
  • Toxicity: no data specific to the species; treat it as poisonous, like all cycads (see Toxicity and precautions)

How to recognise Zamia sinuensis

Zamia sinuensis is recognised by its large, upright leaves, by a petiole armed with prickles along its whole length and, above all, by its lanceolate, stalkless leaflets, strongly undulate along their length, dark green and glossy above. The original description gives (Calonje and colleagues, 2021):

  • Stem: underground or half-buried, tuberous, cylindrical, 10 to 30 cm long and 5 to 20 cm across, single or branched into up to three heads; triangular cataphylls 5.3 to 14.5 cm long, covered in pale down.
  • Leaves: three to six per head, upright to slightly spreading, 1.8 to 3.1 m long and 24 to 52 cm wide. The petiole, 20 to 175 cm long, carries prickles 0.4 to 3.6 mm long along its whole length and widens abruptly at the base; the rachis, 20 to 135 cm long, is armed only in its lower third. Young leaves emerge covered in white down.
  • Leaflets: 11 to 54, spaced 3 to 3.5 cm apart in the middle of the leaf, papery to slightly leathery, lanceolate, symmetrical to slightly sickle-shaped, strongly undulate, with a rolled margin carrying 32 to 39 teeth 0.6 to 2.3 mm long on the outer half. Median leaflets measure 23.5 to 25.8 cm by 3.7 to 3.9 cm.
  • Male cones: one to five per head, 4.9 to 5.1 cm long and 1 to 1.2 cm wide when shedding pollen, cream speckled with reddish-brown down, on a peduncle 23 to 24 cm long.
  • Female cones: usually one per head, reddish brown, cylindrical, about 27.5 cm by 5 cm, ending in an elongated sterile tip, on a peduncle about 40 cm long, dark olive green with fine tawny down.
  • Seeds: ovoid, 13 to 14 mm by 7.5 to 8.5 mm, with a fleshy coat 1 mm thick.

Hybrids

No hybrid is known, either in the wild or in cultivation.

Possible confusion

The closest species is Zamia manicata, from which it is separated by the Serranía de Abibe, a northern spur of the Western Cordillera of the Andes. The authors of the description give the following differences (Calonje and colleagues, 2021):

  • Zamia manicata: leaflets joined to the rachis by a channelled stalk and a gland-like collar, reddish purple and clearly distinct from the rest of the leaflet; leaflet base strongly concave; leaflets flat to slightly wavy; male cones dark reddish brown;
  • Zamia sinuensis: no stalk and no collar, the leaflet base flat and green like the rest of the blade; leaflets strongly undulate; male cones cream speckled with reddish-brown down.

The authors point out that the stalk and collar of Zamia manicata are absent from seedlings and young plants: the comparison holds for adults or large juveniles. In the same Sinú basin, about 20 km away, grows Zamia restrepoi (formerly Chigua restrepoi), which looks nothing like it, since its leaflets have a prominent midrib; the two species do not appear to grow together.

Taxonomy

Zamia sinuensis is accepted by The World List of Cycads, by GBIF and by the World Checklist of Vascular Plants of Kew; POWO could not be consulted directly. The species has no synonym. It was described in 2021 by Michael Calonje and Jonatan Castro Hernández, with Luis Fernando Coca, Daniel Jaramillo and Arturo Aristizábal, in the journal Phytotaxa (volume 497, pages 1 to 19), in a paper that also describes Zamia imbricata, from the middle Magdalena valley.

The manicata clade

The species belongs to the “manicata clade”, a group of species of northern Colombia and eastern Panama whose relationship is well supported by molecular analyses (Calonje and colleagues, 2019, cited by Calonje and colleagues, 2021). The group comprises Zamia manicata, Zamia disodon, Zamia melanorrhachis and Zamia restrepoi, together with the two species of 2021 and a still undescribed species from Puerto Berrío (Antioquia), called Zamia “Cogollo”. Their leaflets are extraordinarily varied, but they share an underground or half-buried stem, strongly toothed leaflets, cones on very long peduncles (usually more than 20 cm), scales with flat faces, small seeds with a very thin coat and tiny male cones.

The authors of the description placed Zamia sinuensis in the clade on morphological grounds. The transcriptome-based study by Lindstrom and colleagues (2024), which sampled the species, has since confirmed its place in this northern Colombian subgroup, with Zamia disodon, Zamia manicata and Zamia restrepoi.

Etymology and history

The epithet sinuensis refers to the basin of the Sinú River, where the species grows (original description; Haynes, 2022, followed by The World List of Cycads).

The plant was found during recent surveys of the moist forests of the Magdalena-Urabá ecoregion, which, according to the authors, had long been little explored because of the violence that affected the region for more than half a century. The fieldwork, carried out by members of the Colombian Cycad Society (Sociedad Colombiana de Cycadas) as part of the national action plan for the conservation of Colombian cycads, took place at Tierralta in October 2017. According to the original description, the holotype was collected on 3 October 2017 at 187 m by Jonatan Castro, David Taborda and P. Hernández (no. 1146) and deposited in the herbarium of the University of Antioquia (HUA); a second specimen (no. 1147), collected the same day at 180 m, is a paratype. The World List of Cycads, however, gives no. 1147, at 180 m, as the type. The exact localities have not been published, to limit the risk of illegal collecting.

Common names

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

In the wild

Zamia sinuensis is known only from two collections made on the same day in a single population, 3 km apart, in disturbed tropical moist forest of the Sinú basin, between 180 and 187 m. The authors saw only five plants there.

The climate is tropical monsoon (Am in the Köppen-Geiger classification): mean monthly temperatures always above 18 °C (64 °F), a mean annual temperature of 25.4 to 25.5 °C (77.7 to 77.9 °F) and 2,200 to 2,900 mm of rain a year. Most rain falls from April to November; the dry season runs from December to March. The wettest month, May, receives 420 to 430 mm, the driest, February, 56 to 58 mm (Calonje and colleagues, 2021).

The biology of the species is almost unknown, because logistical and security problems have prevented long-term access to its habitat. In October 2017 the authors saw male cones close to shedding pollen, immature and nearly mature female cones and newly emerging leaves. Demography, pollinators, seed dispersers and herbivores have not been studied.

Conservation status and regulation

Zamia sinuensis has not yet been assessed for the IUCN Red List (The World List of Cycads, version 2026.08.15; GBIF). The authors of the description note that the only known collections come from a protected area, Paramillo National Natural Park, but that the range, abundance, demography and threats of the species remain unknown; they therefore recommend treating it as Data Deficient (DD) until its extinction risk can be assessed. They recall that the whole manicata clade suffers from intense deforestation in the region, which has greatly reduced suitable habitat (Calonje and colleagues, 2021).

Like all Zamia except Zamia restrepoi, which is in Appendix I, Zamia sinuensis falls under CITES Appendix II, where the genus has been listed since 4 February 1977. The listing carries annotation #4 (version adopted at CoP20, in force on 5 March 2026): seeds, pollen, seedlings and tissue cultures obtained in vitro and transported in sterile containers, and cut flowers of artificially propagated plants, are not covered by CITES. International trade in the plants themselves, on the other hand, requires an export permit. In the European Union the species is listed in Annex B of Regulation (EC) No 338/97, whose annexes are now set by Regulation (EU) 2026/1383, applicable since 29 June 2026. Species+ does not yet name the species, 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, ask the seller for proof of origin, and prefer plants raised from cultivated seed.

Growing Zamia sinuensis

No growing advice specific to Zamia sinuensis has been published, and no grower’s report is documented: described in 2021 and known from five plants, it is not declared by any garden in the BGCI PlantSearch database.

Simon Lavaud, of the French specialist nursery Cycadales.eu, places it in his group of Zamia from Central America and the lowland forests of South America, rated “difficult” outside the tropics. For this group he advises a free-draining, neutral to acid compost and water, night temperatures of about 22 °C (72 °F) with short spells around 15 °C (59 °F) tolerated, 28 to 30 °C (82 to 86 °F) by day and air humidity of 70 to 90 % (Lavaud, 2023). These are recommendations for a group, not trials with Zamia sinuensis.

Its habitat gives a few pointers: constant warmth (about 25 °C, or 77 °F, on average), heavy rain with a marked dry season from December to March, and moist forest. A warm glasshouse, a free-draining compost and slightly reduced watering during a short drier period would be the most consistent approach; it has not been validated by published trials.

Outdoor and in-ground cultivation

No planting outside its habitat has been documented. Only a frost-free, warm and humid tropical climate could suit it outdoors; this is a deduction from its habitat, not a tested result.

Container cultivation

No container-growing report has been published. With leaves up to 3 m long, an adult plant would need a large container and a tall glasshouse.

In cultivation in the UK, US and Australia

In short: no record. Neither BGCI nor the online catalogue of Montgomery Botanical Center (Coral Gables, Florida) lists Zamia sinuensis (both queried on 25 October 2026), and no British or Australian garden mentions it. No grower’s report has been published in these three countries.

Propagation

No data specific to the species. Like all Zamia, it has separate male and female plants and would be propagated from fresh seed. With only five plants known, any collecting in the wild would be unacceptable.

Pests and diseases

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

Cold hardiness

There are no data on the cold tolerance of Zamia sinuensis. It lives at low altitude, in a tropical climate with a mean annual temperature of 25 °C (77 °F) and no cold season; nothing suggests that it tolerates frost.

Mediterranean and European experience

No cultivation result has been published in France or Italy, in the ground or in pots, and no dated frost episode concerns the species. At the Jardin zoologique tropical in La Londe-les-Maures (Var, on the French Riviera), no observation of this species has been published. For readers in Mediterranean-type climates such as California or southern Australia, only a heated glasshouse is conceivable.

United Kingdom, United States and Australia

No cold record has been published, on forums or by botanic gardens. In the UK it would need a hot, humid glasshouse all year round.

Toxicity and precautions

No toxicity study specific to Zamia sinuensis has been published. The risk is, however, well documented in cycads: Zamia contain toxic glycosides (cycasin, macrozamin), from which methylazoxymethanol is derived, harmful to the liver and nervous system, and cycads also contain a neurotoxic amino acid, BMAA; the seeds are the most dangerous part. Within the genus, the ASPCA lists Zamia furfuracea as toxic to dogs, cats and horses. 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 has been documented for this species.

Frequently asked questions

What does the name Zamia sinuensis mean?

“From the Sinú”. The epithet refers to the basin of the Sinú River, in the Colombian department of Córdoba, the only place where the species is known.

Where does it grow?

Only in the municipality of Tierralta (Córdoba, Colombia), inside Paramillo National Natural Park, in tropical moist forest at about 180 m.

How can I tell it from Zamia manicata?

By the base of the leaflets. In adult Zamia manicata, each leaflet sits on a reddish-purple stalk with a collar; in Zamia sinuensis the leaflet is stalkless and strongly undulate. The male cones also differ in colour.

Is it endangered?

Not yet known. The IUCN has not assessed it, and its authors recommend Data Deficient: only five plants have been seen, in a protected area, and the population has not been studied.

Is it hardy?

No, in all likelihood. There are no cold data, and it lives in a tropical climate without a cold season; it needs a heated glasshouse.

Can I buy one?

In practice, no. No public collection lists the species. It falls under CITES Appendix II; seeds are exempt under annotation #4, but collecting seed in a national park, from a population this small, cannot be justified.

Is it poisonous?

It must be assumed so. No analysis concerns the species, but the cycads studied contain serious toxins, especially in the seeds.

Further reading on Succulentes

Sources

Reference sites

Bibliography

  • Calonje, M., Castro Hernández, J., Coca, L.F., Jaramillo, D. & Aristizábal, A. (2021). Two new species of Zamia (Zamiaceae, Cycadales) from the Magdalena-Urabá moist forests ecoregion of northern Colombia. Phytotaxa 497(1): 1–19. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.497.1.1 [Original description; 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.]
  • Calonje, M., Meerow, A.W., Griffith, M.P., Salas-Leiva, D., Vovides, A.P., Coiro, M. & Francisco-Ortega, J. (2019). A time-calibrated species tree phylogeny of the New World cycad genus Zamia L. (Zamiaceae, Cycadales). International Journal of Plant Sciences 180(4): 286–314. https://doi.org/10.1086/702642 [Phylogeny of the genus; not consulted directly, cited by the papers read.]
  • Lavaud, S. (2023). Comment cultiver les Zamia en climat tempéré. Cycadales.eu. [Growing advice for groups of species; read directly.]
  • 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.]