Zamiaceae (Sago-palm family) description

Zamiaceae

Horan. (1834)

Common names

Sago-palm family (Landry 1993).

Taxonomic notes

A family of ten genera and about 247 species:

For species not described here, please refer to The World List of Cycads.

Description

Plants perennial, evergreen, dioecious. Stems subterranean with exposed apex or aboveground, fleshy, stout, cylindric, simple or irregularly branched. Roots with small secondary roots; coral-like roots developing at base of stem at or below soil surface. Leaves pinnately compound, spirally clustered at stem apex, leathery; leaflets entire, dentate or spinose, venation dichotomous or netted; resin canals absent. Cones axillary, appearing terminal, short-peduncled or sessile, disintegrating at maturity; sporophylls densely crowded, spirally arranged. Pollen cones soon shed, generally smaller and more numerous than seed cones; sporophylls bearing many crowded, small microsporangia (pollen sacs) adaxially; pollen spheric. Seed cones persisting a year or more, 1(2) per plant, nearly globose to ovoid, tapering sharply or blunt at apex; sporophylls peltate, thickened and laterally expanded distally, bearing 2(3) ovules. Seeds angular, inner coat hardened, outer coat fleshy, often brightly colored; cotyledons 2 (Landry 1993).

Distribution and Ecology

Australia (Chigua, Lepidozamia, Macrozamia), Neotropics (Georgia to Bolivia) (Ceratozamia, Dioon, Microcycas, Zamia) and sub-Saharan Africa (Encephalartos). All species occupy subtropical or tropical habitats, with precipitation regimes ranging from the semiarid to swamps or tropical rainforests (Jones 1993).

The Zamiaceae are, in general, very much of conservation concern. The IUCN (2020) has identified 4 taxa as extinct in the wild, 42 as critically endangered, 49 as endangered, and 43 as vulnerable. Thus 62% of all taxa are at risk. Principal factors of decline include habitat conversion through agriculture or development, illegal removal of wild plants for horticultural collection, and climate change.

Remarkable Specimens

No data as of 2026-01-14.

Ethnobotany

See the genus and species descriptions.

Remarks

No data as of 2026-01-14.

Citations

Horaninow, P. 1834. Prim. Lin. Syst. Nat. 45. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2026.01.14.

IUCN. 2020. IUCN Red List version 2020-1: Table 4b: Red List Category summary for all plant classes and families. https://nc.iucnredlist.org/redlist/content/attachment_files/2020_1_RL_Stats_Table_4b.pdf, accessed 2022.09.23.

Landry, Garrie P. 1993. Zamiaceae. Flora of North America Editorial Committee (eds.): Flora of North America North of Mexico, Vol. 2. Oxford University Press.