Macrozamia

Belongs within: Cycadophyta.

Macrozamia is an Australian genus of cycads bearing pedunculate cones with sporophylls ending in a more or less erect spine (Harden 1990).

Characters (from Harden 1990): More or less palm-like dioecious plants with a usually unbranched stem forming a rather massive aerial trunk often more than 50 cm in diameter, or stem mainly subterranean, covered by persistent leaf bases; all parts more or less pubescent when young, glabrescent with age. Leaves few to numerous, simply pinnate but pinnae sometimes dichotomously divided, rachis straight or twisted; base of petiole swollen, usually silky or tomentose. Pinnae numerous in mature plants, spreading or turned to one side, inserted near edges of rachis towards upper side. Cones axillary, pedunculate; sporophylls terminated by upturned spines; spines usually largest towards apex of cone. Male cones more or less cylindrical, often curved when old. Female cones more or less ovoid, inner parts often bright pink; sporophylls with two ovules; sporophylls fall with attached seeds when ripe; seed with outer fleshy brightly-coloured layer.

<==Macrozamia
    |  i. s.: M. communisPL12
    |         M. fawcettiiH90
    |         M. heteromeraH90
    |         M. secundaH90
    |--M. fraseriNM11
    `--+--+--M. spiralisNM11
       |  `--+--M. flexuosaNM11 [=M. pauli-guilielmi ssp. flexuosaH90]
       |     `--+--M. stenomeraNM11
       |        `--+--M. plurinerviaNM11 [=M. pauli-guilielmi ssp. plurinerviaH90]
       |           `--+--M. lomandroidesNM11
       |              `--M. macdonnelliiNM11
       `--+--M. elegansNM11
          `--+--M. lucidaNM11
             `--+--+--M. dyeriNM11
                |  `--+--M. platyrhachisNM11
                |     `--+--+--M. crassifoliaNM11
                |        |  `--M. glaucophyllaNM11
                |        `--+--M. pauli-guilielmiNM11
                |           `--+--M. diplomeraNM11
                |              `--M. polymorphaNM11
                `--+--+--M. douglasiiNM11
                   |  `--+--M. mooreiNM11
                   |     `--+--M. montanaNM11
                   |        `--M. reductaNM11
                   `--+--M. riedleiNM11
                      `--+--+--M. johnsoniiNM11
                         |  `--M. miqueliiNM11
                         `--+--M. mountperriensisNM11
                            `--M. serpentineNM11

*Type species of generic name indicated

References

[H90] Harden, G. J. (ed.) 1990. Flora of New South Wales vol. 1. New South Wales University Press.

[NM11] Nagalingum, N. S., C. R. Marshall, T. B. Quental, H. S. Rai, D. P. Little & S. Mathews. 2011. Recent synchronous radiation of a living fossil. Science 334: 796–799.

[PL12] Peñalver, E., C. C. Labandeira, E. Barrón, X. Delclòs, P. Nel, A. Nel, P. Tafforeau & C. Soriano. 2012. Thrips pollination of Mesozoic gymnosperms. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 109 (22): 8623–8628.