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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Zamiaceae
| image = Encephalartos lebomboensis - Lebombo cycad - desc-fruiting stalk.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = ''Encephalartos lebomboensis''
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Cycad]]ophyta
| classis = [[Cycad]]opsida
| ordo = [[Cycad]]ales
| familia = '''Zamiaceae'''
| familia_authority = Horaninow
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision =
See text.
}}
The '''Zamiaceae''' are a family of [[cycad]]s that are superficially palm or fern-like. They are divided into two subfamilies with eight genera and about 150 species in the tropical and warm temperate regions of [[Africa]], [[Australia]] and [[North America|North]] and [[South America]].
The Zamiaceae are [[Perennial plant|perennial]], evergreen, and [[dioecious]]. They have subterranean to tall and erect, usually unbranched, cylindrical stems, and stems clad with persistent leaf bases (in Australian genera).
Their [[Leaf|leaves]] are simply pinnate, spirally arranged, and interspersed with cataphylls. The leaflets are sometimes dichotomously divided. The leaflets occur with several sub-parallel, dichotomously-branching longitudinal veins; they lack a mid rib. [[Stomata]] occur either on both surfaces or undersurface only.
Their roots have small secondary roots. The coral-like roots develop at the base of the stem at or below the [[soil]] surface.
Male and female [[sporophyll]]s are spirally aggregated into determinate [[Conifer cone|cones]] that grow along the axis. Female sporophylls are simple, appearing peltate, with a barren [[stipe (botany)|stipe]] and an expanded and thickened lamina with 2 (rarely 3 or more) sessile [[ovule]]s inserted on the inner (axis facing) surface and directed inward. The seeds are angular, with the inner coat hardened and the outer coat fleshy. They are often brightly colored, with 2 [[cotyledon]]s.
One subfamily, the Encephalartoideae, is characterized by spirally arranged sporophylls (rather than spirally orthostichous), non-articulate leaflets and persistent leaf bases. It is represented in Australia, with two genera and 40 species.
== Genera ==
**Subfamily ''Encephalartoideae''
*''[[Chigua]]''
*''[[Dioon]]''
*''[[Encephalartos]]'', including the [[Modjadji cycad]]
*''[[Lepidozamia]]''
**Subfamily ''Zamioideae''
*''[[Macrozamia]]''
*''[[Ceratozamia]]''
*''[[Microcycas]]''
*''[[Zamia]]''
Some classifications also place the genus ''[[Bowenia]]'' in the ''Zamiaceae''.
As with all cycads, members of the ''Zamiaceae'' are [[poison]]ous, producing poisonous [[glycoside]]s known as cycasins.
<gallery>
Image:Dioon mejae (in Quail Botanical Gardens).JPG|''Dioon mejiae''
</gallery>
== References ==
*[http://plantnet.rbgsyd.gov.au/PlantNet/cycad/zamiacea.html The Cycad Pages: Zamiaceae]
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=10958 Flora of North America]
*[http://sciweb.nybg.org/Science2/hcol/lists/zamiaceae.html New York Botanical Garden: Vascular Plant Type Catalog, some Zamiaceae genera and species.]
[[Category:Cycads]]
[[Category:Plant families]]
| color = lightgreen
| name = Zamiaceae
| image = Encephalartos lebomboensis - Lebombo cycad - desc-fruiting stalk.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = ''Encephalartos lebomboensis''
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Cycad]]ophyta
| classis = [[Cycad]]opsida
| ordo = [[Cycad]]ales
| familia = '''Zamiaceae'''
| familia_authority = Horaninow
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision =
See text.
}}
The '''Zamiaceae''' are a family of [[cycad]]s that are superficially palm or fern-like. They are divided into two subfamilies with eight genera and about 150 species in the tropical and warm temperate regions of [[Africa]], [[Australia]] and [[North America|North]] and [[South America]].
The Zamiaceae are [[Perennial plant|perennial]], evergreen, and [[dioecious]]. They have subterranean to tall and erect, usually unbranched, cylindrical stems, and stems clad with persistent leaf bases (in Australian genera).
Their [[Leaf|leaves]] are simply pinnate, spirally arranged, and interspersed with cataphylls. The leaflets are sometimes dichotomously divided. The leaflets occur with several sub-parallel, dichotomously-branching longitudinal veins; they lack a mid rib. [[Stomata]] occur either on both surfaces or undersurface only.
Their roots have small secondary roots. The coral-like roots develop at the base of the stem at or below the [[soil]] surface.
Male and female [[sporophyll]]s are spirally aggregated into determinate [[Conifer cone|cones]] that grow along the axis. Female sporophylls are simple, appearing peltate, with a barren [[stipe (botany)|stipe]] and an expanded and thickened lamina with 2 (rarely 3 or more) sessile [[ovule]]s inserted on the inner (axis facing) surface and directed inward. The seeds are angular, with the inner coat hardened and the outer coat fleshy. They are often brightly colored, with 2 [[cotyledon]]s.
One subfamily, the Encephalartoideae, is characterized by spirally arranged sporophylls (rather than spirally orthostichous), non-articulate leaflets and persistent leaf bases. It is represented in Australia, with two genera and 40 species.
== Genera ==
**Subfamily ''Encephalartoideae''
*''[[Chigua]]''
*''[[Dioon]]''
*''[[Encephalartos]]'', including the [[Modjadji cycad]]
*''[[Lepidozamia]]''
**Subfamily ''Zamioideae''
*''[[Macrozamia]]''
*''[[Ceratozamia]]''
*''[[Microcycas]]''
*''[[Zamia]]''
Some classifications also place the genus ''[[Bowenia]]'' in the ''Zamiaceae''.
As with all cycads, members of the ''Zamiaceae'' are [[poison]]ous, producing poisonous [[glycoside]]s known as cycasins.
<gallery>
Image:Dioon mejae (in Quail Botanical Gardens).JPG|''Dioon mejiae''
</gallery>
== References ==
*[http://plantnet.rbgsyd.gov.au/PlantNet/cycad/zamiacea.html The Cycad Pages: Zamiaceae]
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=10958 Flora of North America]
*[http://sciweb.nybg.org/Science2/hcol/lists/zamiaceae.html New York Botanical Garden: Vascular Plant Type Catalog, some Zamiaceae genera and species.]
[[Category:Cycads]]
[[Category:Plant families]]
