Zamia furfuracea (Mexican Cycad)

The cardboard palm (Zamia furfuracea, Mexican cycad) carries stiff, leathery, paddle-shaped leaflets on arching fronds. This 3'–4' plant comes in matte black, brushed chrome, or seagrass basket. It arrives in its grower's pot set inside a sealed planter, ready to place.

Details

• Size: 3'–4' tall
• Planter: Matte black, brushed chrome, or seagrass basket
• Light: Bright, direct or indirect light
• Pets: The ASPCA lists cardboard palm and other cycads as toxic to cats and dogs; keep it well out of reach
• Best for: Sunny living rooms, lofts, and bright offices in homes without pets
• Care: Easy

Grown, delivered, guaranteed

Prepared at the Interior Foliage Design greenhouse, 47-47 58th St, Woodside, NY 11377. Free pickup at our Woodside greenhouse, usually ready within 24 hours, Monday–Friday, 8 AM–5 PM. Delivery is $45 to Long Island City, Astoria, Sunnyside, Woodside, Greenpoint, Maspeth, Hunters Point, West Williamsburg and Manhattan below 125th Street; $125 to the rest of Brooklyn and Queens and Manhattan above 125th Street; $195 to Westchester, Nassau, western Suffolk through Riverhead, Greenwich and New Canaan; and $295 to the East End and Bergen, Hudson, Essex and Passaic counties in New Jersey. Every plant carries our 48-hour replacement guarantee; live plants are not returnable (refund policy). Our family has sold plants in New York since the 1970s, and Interior Foliage Design was incorporated in 1980.

Watering

Let the soil dry most of the way down before you water, which indoors is usually every two to four weeks. Then give a small, measured amount of room-temperature water, enough to moisten the root ball, never a flood. The sealed planter keeps your floors dry, and with this plant less is always more. In winter, when growth slows, water even more sparingly.

Why it is called a living fossil

NC State Extension describes the cardboard palm as a slow-growing cycad native to Mexico. It isn't a palm at all: cycads are an ancient lineage of cone-bearing plants, and the leathery leaves are the reason it tolerates dry indoor air so well.

FAQ

Is it a palm? No. It is a cycad, an ancient lineage of cone-bearing plants.

Is it safe for pets? No. The ASPCA lists cycads as toxic to cats and dogs; choose a pet-safe plant if you have pets.

What light is best? Bright light, direct or indirect.