bronze cast (Z. roezlii being an example). Z. picta is even more distinctive, being the only truly variegated cycad (having whitish/yellow speckles on the leaves).

Like all Zamiaceae, Zamia plants have "coralloid" (coral-shaped) roots which host nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria. Stems are 3 to 25 cm in diameter, and when arboreal, up to 5 m tall. Leaves vary from 2 to up to 15 in number, and have an even number (5 to 60 pairs)