Ceratozamia becerrae Information
Identification:
Rupicolous plants with globose trunks, subterranean or partially so, protected by reddish brown, persistent petiole bases and cataphylls, 10.34-31 cm long, 5.48-10.47 cm in diameter. Cataphyll triangular, tomentose on basal part, 2.3-3.5 cm long, 2.2-5 cm wide, reddish. LEAVES 2-5 descending to decumbent, pinnate, olive-green upon emergence, forming an open crown, 55-178 cm long, 21.5-45 cm wide; petiole and rachis linear, terete with two parallel adaxial canals at leaflet articulations on rachis,
unarmed or with few distantly spaced fine prickles, petiole 15.5-79 cm long, rachis 17-80 cm long; leaflets coriaceous, flat, 4-13 pairs, oblong to oblanceolate, subfalcate, asymmetrical towards acuminate apex, opposite to subopposite along apical portion of leaf, alternate to subalternate along mid and basal portion of leaf, margins subrevolute, entire, proximal
margin more curved than the distal, giving the leaflet a subfalcate appearance, olive green on adaxial surface, light green on abaxial surface, articulation yellow to orange inserted at an oblique angle to the
rachis, 17-30 cm long, 5.2-10 cm wide, 32-54 veins visible on adaxial surface, intervein distance 0.17-0.24 cm, distance between leaflets 5.4-12.9 cm. MICROSTROBILI erect, conical, light to olive green at emergence, beige to creamy yellow at maturity, 14-14.5 cm long, 1.7-2.2 cm in diameter; peduncle tomentose, light brown at emergence to brown at
cone maturity, 3.8-5 cm long, 2.3-2.5 cm in diameter; microsporophylls numerous, cuneiform, inserted spirally at an angle of c. 45° with respect to cone axis forming apparent vertical rows, tomentulose, bicornate
on distal surface, fertile portion covering 2/3 of abaxial surface excluding the horns, 1-1.4 cm long, 0.4-0.6 cm wide; microsporangia numerous in sori of 3-4 microsporangia, dehiscence by longitudinal slit.
MEGASTROBILI cylindrical or barrel-shaped, erect, beige at emergence, light to olive-green at maturity, 11-13.5 cm long, 4-5.1 cm in diameter; peduncle heavily tomentose, 2-3 cm long, 1-1.5 cm in diameter; megasporophylls numerous, peltate, spirally inserted along cone axis, distal face hexagonal, bicornate, with olive-green tomentulum on lobulate portion near the horns, long axis 1.8-3.3 cm, short axis 0.6-1.4 cm, 3-4 crests near base of the horns. SEEDS ovate, sarcotesta white when immature turning creamy yellow at maturity, sclerotesta smooth, beige to light-beige with 7-10 visible rays radiating from the micropyle, 1.1-2.1 cm long, 1.1-1.4 cm in diameter. Chromosome number 2n = 16.
General Information:
A newly described species from a previous misidentified herbarium collection native to the mountains of northern Chiapas and the southern Sierras of
Tabasco, Mexico. Ceratozamia becerrae grows on karstic rocks in evergreen tropical rainforest within an altitudinal range of 400-600 m a.s.l.
Distribution:
Native to, Mexico