Coontie
Zamia integrifolia
Also known as: Florida Arrowroot
Florida's only native cycad — a tough, low rosette of stiff, glossy, fern-like fronds from an underground stem, bearing cones rather than flowers. Exceptionally drought- and shade-tolerant and the sole larval host of the rare atala butterfly. The starchy root was processed into "Florida arrowroot," but all parts are toxic raw.
- Family
- Zamiaceae
- Type
- shrub
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 1–3 ft
- Spacing
- 3–5 ft apart
- Light
- sun, part shade
- Soil moisture
- moist
- Soil pH
- acidic, alkaline, neutral
- Bloom
- March, April
- Bloom colors
- brown
- Wildlife value
- butterflies, mammals, songbirds
- Landscape uses
- border, naturalizing
- Native states
- FL, GA