Macrozamia riedlei

Macrozamia riedlei, commonly known as a zamia or zamia palm, is a species of cycad in the plant family Zamiaceae. It is endemic to southwest Australia and often occurs in jarrah forests. It may only attain a height of half a metre or form an above trunk up to two metres with long arching fronds of a similar length. The giant cones amidst the crown of palm-like fronds contain edible seeds surrounded by red sarcotesta. The seeds are consumed by birds and animals, and can be a favoured part of the human diet when prepared correctly. M. riedlei benefits from a close association with bacteria that fix nitrogen, which also produce substances found throughout the plant that are toxic to some animals when consumed. The species is cultivated for ornamental use in urban and domestic environments. Macrozamia riedlei grows as a tree or trunkless low growing cycad (but is usually trunkless) attaining a height between 0.5–3.0 metres (1 ft 8 in–9 ft 10 in). Between 12 and 30 glossy mid- to dark-green leaves emerge from its crown, each reaching 1.2 to 2.2 metres (3 ft 11 in to 7 ft 3 in) long and bearing 92–150 pinnae. The leaves are palm-like, each frond having a thickened mid-rib with the pinnae evenly arranged at either side. The flowering period occurs between September and October. The dioecious genus is noted for the large size of the reproductive structure, and this species is remarkable in several of those aspects. The female cone measures 120–250 millimetres (4.7–9.8 in) wide and 250–500 millimetres (9.8–19.7 in) long, and the weight has been recorded up to 14 kilograms (31 lb); the eggs and spermatozoids are visible to the naked eye. The cones persist on the plant for many months, the smaller pollen-bearing cone remaining green and the larger female cone becoming prominently red. Spores are contained in small box-like structures on the underside of the leaf until ripe, a similar structure at the receptive cone is reduced to two seeds that remain attached to the leaf. It differs from other West Australian macrozamias in that it is generally trunkless, smaller, has fewer and glossier flat leaves, and has smaller cones. The first species description was published as Cycas riedlei by Friedrich Ernst Ludwig von Fischer, based on a specimen collected at King George Sound and held at the Paris museum. The species name honours French gardener Anselme Riedlé. An orthographic variant—M. reidlei— was used by the revising author, Charles Gardner, when assigning it to the genus Macrozamia and citing specimens obtained near Collie, Manjimup, Bow Bridge, and other sites south of Perth. The colonists applied the term zamia and zamia palm to the once common plant, this continued to be given in some listings and guides. The names in the local language for the plant are baian, djiriji, koondagoor and quinning. Different names are applied to various parts of the plants and its products, most of which has had some application as food or material resource. Occurring on lateritic soils, often in Jarrah forest, it is an endemic species of southern Western Australia. It is found from the southwestern coast east to Dwellingup and Albany.The species also occurs at the west of the Esperance Plains and on the Swan Coastal Plain.