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Pineapple Palm

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​Lepidozamia peroffskyana


Plant Number: 40

Common Name: Pineapple Palm, Pineapple Cycad, Scaly Zamia

Scientific Name: Lepidozamia peroffskyana​

Derivation of name

Lepidozamia - is derived from the Greek word lepidos, a scale and Zamia, a cycad

peroffskyana -  named after Count Peroffsky, a 19th Century benefactor of the St Petersburg Botanical Garden

 Description​

  • They are a cycad which grows to 7m with fronds to 2m and have dark green glossy leaves that look like palm fronds with young leaves appearing brown, soft and hairy as they emerge, but turn green, glossy and flatten out as they harden
  • They are naturally distributed in the wet sclerophyll forests of north-eastern New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland, usually on protected slopes and gullies or rainforest margins and coastal forests on stabilised sand dunes and hills
  • They grow at sea level to about 1000m altitude and tolerate summer temperature to    32°C and winter temperatures to 6°C
  • Cones are produced on separate male and female plants with the female cones 50-60 cm long, 20-25 cm wide and are barrel shaped whereas male cones are 50-60 cm long, 10-12 cm wide and are cylindrical and curved
  • Male cones can extend to 1 m in length when they extend to shed pollen
  • They are easily grown from seed, are slow growing and long lived
  • Scale insects can be a problem but can be controlled easily by removing any affected fronds and make a great indoor container plant in well-lit situations

Human uses

The seeds are poisonous until treated. The seed kernels were crushed into a flour, then washed in running water for a week, cooked on hot coals and eaten. a sweet, though sometimes bitter pulp that stains the mouth blue


Photo: Cyril Nelson

Map: Australian Botanical Garden

 

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Last reviewed 05 May 2021
Last updated 05 May 2021