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