Macrozamia fraseri

Macrozamia fraseri is a species of plant in the family Zamiaceae. It is endemic to the south west of Western Australia, and restricted largely to the sandy soils of the Swan Coastal Plain and Geraldton Sandplains. The range of Macrozamia fraseri overlaps that of Macrozamia riedlei.

Macrozamia fraseri
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Cycadophyta
Class: Cycadopsida
Order: Cycadales
Family: Zamiaceae
Genus: Macrozamia
Species:
M. fraseri
Binomial name
Macrozamia fraseri
Occurrence data from AVH
Closeup of cone
Large specimens in Coomallo Nature Reserve

Taxonomy

The species was first described by Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel.[2]

Description

The form of the species is a low-trunked cycad or upright tree, being highly variable. Leaves are dull and distinctly keeled, leaflets are medium or small. The species grows in low heath, without jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata), on sand.[2] Macrozamia fraseri is typical of cycads in being slow-growing, perennial, evergreen and dioecious. The trunk of old plants can be over a metre in height, with a surface burnt by bush fires of the past.

Macrozamia fraseri contains poisonous glycosides known as cycasins.

References
  1. Hill, K.D. 2003. Macrozamia fraseri. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 22 August 2007.
  2. "Macrozamia fraseri". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.


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