Species · genus Zamia · Zamiaceae

Florida Arrowroot

Zamia integrifolia L.f.

Also known as: Bay-rush · Comfort Root · Coontie · Florida Coontie · Wild Sago

Growth habit

subshrub

Native range

Bahamas, Cayman Is., Cuba, Florida, Georgia

Reference · Z. integrifolia

Cultivars of Z. integrifolia

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under Z. integrifolia yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

Zamia integrifolia is a cycad from the sandy, well-drained soils of Florida and the Caribbean, storing water in a thick underground stem. Give it gritty, fast-draining mix and bright indirect light, and let the top two inches of soil dry fully before watering, as it rots far more easily than it dries out. It grows slowly and resents soggy roots.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 10-21d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 21 days

Humidity

Medium

Temperature

15–29 °C

Soil mix

Gritty, fast-draining sandy mix with added pumice or perlite

Propagation

Division of offsets or seed; slow to establish

Fertilizing

Light balanced feed 2-3 times across the growing season

Growth rate

Slow

Flowering

Produces cones rather than flowers; rare indoors

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Toxic to cats & dogs & humans

Cycads (Zamiaceae) contain cycasin and other glycosides that are highly toxic, especially the seeds, causing liver failure if ingested. This is where toxicity lives: every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 10-21d) · ai:claude-fable-5 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (family inference)

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Florida Arrowroot yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.