Ceratozamia kuesteriana

Regel (1857)

Common names

Von Kuester's horncone.

Taxonomic notes

No data as of 2026-01-14.

Description

"A small cycad [with] a somewhat globose trunk to about 30 cm tall and 12 cm across. Young leaves bronze-coloured, lightly hairy. Mature leaves few in a spreading crown, 1-1.8 m long, dark green, glabrous; petiole 30-60 cm long, very sparsely prickly and appearing smooth; leaflets [70-120] on each leaf, 10-22 cm × 0.6-1.5 cm, linear-lanceolate, dark green above, paler beneath, sessile, the margins inrolled, veins prominent beneath, apex long acuminate. Male cones 20-30 cm × 5-7 cm, usually solitary, cylindrical, brown; sporophylls with two small horns; peduncle to 15 cm long, woolly. Female cones 15-20 cm × 8-10 cm, cylindrical, usually solitary, dark grey-brown; sporophylls with two stout horns. Seed details not recorded" (Jones 1993).

Distribution and Ecology

Mexico: S Tamaulipas: the Sierra Madre Oriental at 1000-1800 m elevation in cloud forests dominated by Pinus and Quercus sp. (Jones 1993).

Remarkable Specimens

No data as of 2026-01-14.

Ethnobotany

Grown as an ornamental (Jones 1993).

Observations

I know of none in habitat. It may be fairly common in cultivation; Seattle's Volunteer Park Conservatory has one.

Remarks

Named for a Baron von Kuster. The species was "described ... from plants growing in the Leningrad Botanic Garden. It was subsequently lost to science until its rediscovery was reported in 1982" (Jones 1993).

Citations

Regel, E. A. von. 1857. Bull. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 30(1):187. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2026.01.14.

See also