Ceratozamia latifolia Hort. Belg. ex Miq. Tijdschr. Wis-Natuurk. Wetensch. Eerste Kl. Kon. Ned. Inst. Wetensch. 1 (4): 206. 1848.

Martinez-Dominguez, Lili, Nicolalde-Morejon, Fernando, Vergara-Silva, Francisco & Stevenson, Dennis Wm., 2018, Taxonomic review of Ceratozamia (Zamiaceae) in the Sierra Madre Oriental, Mexico, PhytoKeys 100, pp. 91-124 : 102-105

8. Ceratozamia latifolia Hort. Belg. ex Miq. Tijdschr. Wis-Natuurk. Wetensch. Eerste Kl. Kon. Ned. Inst. Wetensch. 1 (4): 206. 1848. Figures 3A , 5A , 10

Type.

MEXICO. San Luis Potosí: 20 Jul. 1983, (neotype, designated by Stevenson and Sabato 1986, Stevenson 565 E (NY); isoneotypes: MEXU) .

Ceratozamia mexicana var. latifolia (Miquel) Schuster. Pflanzenr. 99:131. 1932. Type: Based on Ceratozamia latifolia Miq.

Ceratozamia microstrobila Vovides & Rees. Madroño, 30: 9-42. 1983. Type: MEXICO. San Luis Potosi ́, Ciudad del Maiz , 7 Nov. 1974, J. Rees 1613 (holotype: XAL) .

Description.

Stem semihypogeous, erect, 5-15 cm in length, 10-25 cm in diameter. Cataphylls persistent, densely tomentose at emergence, reddish-brown and partially tomentose at maturity, triangular, apex acuminate, 1.5-3 × 2-4 cm at base. Leaves 1-8, descending, 53-163.5 cm, reddish-brown at emergence, whitish-grey pubescence, glabrous at maturity. Petiole terete, straight, 25-80 cm, generally unarmed, greenish- brown in adult leaves. Rachis terete, straight, 25-110 cm, unarmed, greenish-brown in adult leaves. Leaflets 7-22, oblong, mostly planar, basally falcate, papyraceous, flat, opposite to subopposite, plane, green, adaxial and abaxial side glabrous, acuminate apex, asymmetric apex, attenuate at base, with conspicuous and indistinct veins; median leaflets 12-28 × 2.3-5.1 cm, 1.7-12.5 cm between leaflets; articulations brown, 0.4-1.1 cm wide. Polliniferous strobilus solitary, cylindrical, erect, 10.5-20 cm in length, 2.1-2.5 cm in diameter, greenish-yellow with reddish-brown pubescence at emergence, reddish-brown at maturity; peduncle tomentose, reddish-brown to brown, 5-11 cm in length, 0.9-1.2 cm in diameter; microsporophylls 0.5-1 × 0.6-1.1 cm, non-recurved distal face. Ovuliferous strobilus solitary, globose, erect, 7.5-16 cm in length, 5.5-7 cm in diameter, light green at emergence with brown trichomes, greyish-light brown with brown trichomes at maturity, apiculate apex; peduncle tomentose, brown, 4-13.5 cm in length, 1.5-1.8 cm in diameter; megasporophylls 24-56, 1.2-2 × 1.7-2.5 cm, prominent distal face, obtuse angle between horns. Seeds ovoid, sarcotesta whitish-red when immature, light brown at maturity, 1.5-2 cm in length, 1.2-1.5 cm in diameter.

Distribution and habitat.

This species is distributed widely in San Luis Potosí and southeast of Querétaro mountain region, between 600-1,100 m elevation (Fig. 9 ). The vegetation type of its habitat is pine-oak forest and cloud forest.

Etymology.

The specific epithet is derived from the Latin word for wide leaf (latus=wide and folium=leaf).

Distinguishing features.

Leaves reddish-brown at emergence, petiole generally unarmed, leaflets oblong, mostly planar, not basally falcate and papyraceous with asymmetric apex; ovulate strobilus greyish-light brown with brown trichomes at maturity, apiculate apex, prominent distal face and obtuse angle between horns (Fig. 5A ).

Specimens examined.

MEXICO. San Luis Potosí: Ciudad del Maíz, H. Puig 3420 (P), J. Rees 1613 (MO, XAL), S. Avendaño 5320 (MEXU), S. Sabato et al. 2340 (MEXU, MO); El Naranjo, D. W. Stevenson 567 (XAL), F. Nicolalde-Morejón et al. 2375-2389 (CIB), L. Martínez-Domínguez et al. 894-909 (CIB), T. W. Walters TW-2001-08, TW-2001-10 (MEXU, XAL); Rayón, A. P. Vovides et al. 1466 (XAL), D. W. Stevenson 1117 (NY), 565 A (MEXU), 565 B,C,E (MEXU, XAL), F. Medellin L. 1330 (MEXU), 27252 (ENCB), S. Avendaño 5282 (MEXU); Tamasopo, A. P. Vovides et al. 1465 (MEXU, XAL), F. Medellin L. 27241 (ENCB), F. Medellin L. s/n (MEXU), F. Nicolalde-Morejón et al. 2320-2348 (CIB), L. Martínez-Domínguez et al. 811-844 (CIB).

Taxonomic comments.

As circumscribed here, Ceratozamia latifolia has been addressed in different ways, implying disagreements with the original Miquel (1848) description and, at the same time, bearing a relationship to the limits of C. mexicana . Several years after its original description, C. latifolia was considered doubtful (De Candolle 1864-1868); Miquel (1868 - 1869a, b) placed it in synonymy and as part of C. mexicana . On the other hand, Regel (1876a) considered it as a synonym of C. miqueliana , although ten years later Thiselton-Dyer (1884) recognised it as a species. However, Schuster (1983) transferred this binomial to the category of variety under the epithet C. mexicana var. latifolia , a status maintained until the work of Vovides et al. (1983). In our treatment, this binomial is recognised as a species, rendering it incongruent with C. mexicana var. latifolia sensu Vovides et al. (1983). This decision stems from the typification by Stevenson and Sabato (1986), where a neotype specimen geographically located in San Luis Potosí was designated to validate the binomial. In addition, we consider that C. microstrobila is part of C. latifolia , due to the absence of morphological and molecular evidence to recognise the former as a distinct species.

Figures

Figure 3. Shapes of leaflets. A C. latifolia B C. kuesteriana C C. morettii D C. sabatoi E Ceratozamia brevifrons F C. chamberlainii G C. decumbens H C. fuscoviridis I C. tenuis J C. totonacorum K C. delucana L C. mexicana.

Figure 5. Shapes of ovuliferous strobili. A Ceratozamia latifolia B C. decumbens C C. zaragozae.

Figure 9. Distribution map of Ceratozamia sabatoi, C. latifolia, C. zaragozae, C. kuesteriana, C. hildae, C. fuscoviridis and C. chamberlainii.

Figure 10. Ceratozamia latifolia.