Coontie is a shrubby perennial with a fleshy, underground stem in the zamia family (Zamiaceae). It is native to the States of Florida and Georgia. The epithet is a Latin compound meaning "entire leaves" and refers to the entire margins of the leaflets. It prefers well-drained, sandy, moist soils with or without organic matter, though it does grow better in more nutrient-dense soils. It is drought-tolerant and tolerates salt spray. This small, ancient cycad supports an endangered butterfly (the Florida Atala) so planting it in mass as a groundcover will help this butterfly, though the plants may suffer from larval feeding. They usually recover nicely. The fleshy seed coat must be removed to start germination. Stem cuttings from the underground fleshy stem can be used to create new plants. Five taxonomic varieties are recognized from Florida and Georgia. They are: variety integrifolia , var. broomei , var. floridana , var. sylvicola and var. umbrosa . They are distinguished based on leaf and leaflet characters, habitats and distributions. North of its native habitat, coontie can be cultivated as a houseplant or conservatory plant in a generous pot and summered outside in dappled shade. More information on Zamia .
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.