#115 Zamia pumila Common Names: coontie, arrowroot, compties, Seminole bread, comfort root Family: Zamiaceae (coontie Family) Get link to this Profile or click for data record #115

This ancient clump of coonti is a colony composed of dozens of stems packed closely together.

Its evergreen leaves are fine in texture and resemble those of a fern. They are produced from a thick underground storage root in one or more flushes each year. This cycad has a much softer appearance and is without the sharp edges of some of the other popular cycads used in the landscape such as Cycas revoluta.

The staminate (male) coontie cone seen here produces pollen in the late winter and in early spring. Click to download a large version (800x600).

Once this immature pistillate (female) coontie cone is fertilized by the male's pollen the seeds will develop and ripen by the following autumn. Click to download a large version (800x600).

Culture
Coontie will tolerate some salt drift from the sea and can be planted near, but not directly on the beach. The coontie is susceptable to potentially lethal infestations of scale insects that require treatment with pesticide. Light: Full sun or dense shade.
Moisture: Water when dry.
Hardiness: USDA Zones 8-10.
Propagation: Propagated from seeds but young plants grow slowly. You will probably prefer buying potted plants which are readily available from nursery or garden centers throughout Florida and in similar climates.

Usage
Coontie is perfect for woodland and shady gardens where it provides rich evergreen backdrop for flowering species all year long. It works well as a transition plant near larger specimens. Creates a tropical affect when planted by the trunks of pine trees in woodland settings. Coontie is perfect for xeriscapes and as a low maintenance ground cover. The coontie is one of the best ground covers as it evergreen and actually "consumes" trash which sifts down beneath its arching leaves where it is hidden from view to decompose, rust or otherwise degrade inoffensively.

The coontie is very happy growing in pots, urns and containers both indoors and out. It is a popular species for bonsai where it is grown in sand, often with its fleshy underground storage root artfully exposed.

In recent years the native coontie has become a favorite groundcover that is so tough and reliable it is is often planted on traffic islands like this one in Seminole County, Florida.

Florida's indigenous peoples and later European settlers processed the coontie's large storage root to extract an edible starch. For this reason the coontie was often commonly called Seminole bread during the late 1800s.

Zamia floridana is an older name for this species so you may see coontie referred to by this synonym in some publications. The coontie has a larger and more tender relative called the cardboard palm (Zamia furfuracea).

Jack Scheper 01/01/97; updated 03/27/99, 10/3/99, 5/26/01, 2/23/04, 6/9/08

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