FNPS Plant Database

Zamia integrifolia

Coontie, arrowroot
  • Photo by: Shirley Denton, Suncoast Chapter
  • Photo by: Roger Hammer, Dade Chapter FNPS
  • Photo by: Shirley Denton, Suncoast Chapter
  • Photo by: Shirley Denton, Suncoast Chapter
  • Photo by: Marjorie Shropshire, Martin County Chapter FNPS
  • Photo by: Ginny Stibolt, Ixia Chapter FNPS
  • Photo by: Louise Raterman, Suncoast Chapter
  • Photo by: Beverly Friedel, Palm Beach Chapter FNPS

Nomenclature

Common Name:

Coontie, arrowroot

Synonym(s):

Zamia pumila, Zamia floridana

Genus species:

Zamia integrifolia

Family:

Zamiaceae

Plant Specifics

Form:

Shrub

Size:

2–3 ft tall by 3–5 ft wide

Life Span:

Long-lived perennial

Flower Color:

Fruit Color:

orange, brown

Phenology:

Evergreen. Long-lived

Noted For:

Interesting Foliage

Landscaping

Recommended Uses:

Specimen plant or mass planting in border.

Considerations:

Grows slowly. Seeds, foliage, and roots are toxic.

Availability:

Quality Nurseries, Native Nurseries, FNPS Plant Sales, Seed, Friends

Propagation:

Seed and root division.

Light:

Full Sun, Part Sun

Moisture Tolerance:

Always Flooded---------------------------------Extremely Dry

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Usually moist, occasional inundation -to- Very long very dry periods

Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:

Unknown

Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:

Some tolerance to salty wind but not direct salt spray

Soil or Other Substrate:

Sand

Soil pH:

Acidic to circum–neutral

Suitable to Grow In:

8A,8B,9A,9B,10A,10B,11

USDA zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature.

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Vouchered In:

Distribution
Vouchered
Not vouchered
Selected
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No county distribution is available for this plant yet.
Starting…
Map coded by Melissa Fernandez-de Cespedes (Paynes Prairie Chapter)

Ecology

Wildlife:

Caterpillars

Larval host for the rare atala butterfly (Eumaeus atala florida) which is restricted to South Florida and the echo moth (Sierarctia echo).

Native Habitats:

Upland hardwood forests, high pine, coastal hammocks, shell middens

Natural Range in Florida:

Comments:

Ethnobotany:

Used by the Indians as a source of starch. Also for many years this starch was used in the making of Animal Crackers. Read more about this in 1995 Palmetto article by Roger Hammer: http://www.fnps.org/assets/pdf/palmetto/hammer_roger_l_the_coontie_and_the_atala_hairstreak_vol_15_no_4_winter_1995.pdf.

General Comments:

Although palm-like in appearance, this is a cycad, a primitive group of non-flowering plants. It is listed as commercially exploited by the state of Florida.
FNPS Plant Print

Citations:

Haehle, Robert G. and Joan Brookwell.  1999.  Native Florida Plants.  Gulf Publishing Company.  Houston, TX.



Hammer, Roger. 2015.  Attracting hummingbirds and butterflies in tropical Florida.  University Presses of Florida.



Hammer, Roger.  1995.  The Palmetto. http://www.fnps.org/assets/pdf/palmetto/hammer_roger_l_the_coontie_and_the_atala_hairstreak_vol_15_no_4_winter_1995.pdf.



Minno, Marc and Maria Minno.  1999.  Florida butterfly gardening.  University Press of Florida, Gainesville.



Nelson, Gil.  2003.  Florida's Best Landscape Plants. Association of Florida Native Nurseries.



Osorio, Rufino. 2001. A gardener's guide to Florida's native plants.  University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL.



Tras, Pamela.  2001.  Gardening for Florida's butterflies.  Great Outdoors Publishing, St. Petersburg, FL.



Watkins, John  and Thomas Sheehan.  1975.  Florida Landscapt Plants, Native and Exotic. University Presses of Florida, Gainesville (salt and shade).



Wunderlin, R. P, B. F. Hansen, A. R. Franck, and F. B. Essig. 2021. Atlas of Florida Plants ( https://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/ ).  Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.

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