Species library › Zamia › Zamia acuminata
Other Partly documented

Zamia acuminata

A small, mostly subterranean-stemmed cycad from the mid-elevation forests of Costa Rica, carrying one to three leaves with long-pointed leaflets. In pots it can form a short upright stem. Treat it as a warm, shaded forest-floor plant with a mild drier season.

Zamia acuminata
Photo: Photo by David J. Stang, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light ShadeDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

Understory of humid to seasonally dry broadleaf forest. The stem stays underground in the wild, and its leaflets show features suited to both wetter and drier spells.

GBIF records span 500–950 m with a median of 800 m. Published accounts give roughly 400–1,200 m.

Costa RicaPanama

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, unmodified.