Zamia amazonum is a species of plant in the family Zamiaceae. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela.
Zamia amazonum has a subterranean stem in diameter. There are two to six leaves on a plant. The leaves are long on a long petiole (stalk). The reddish-brown stalk is covered with prickles, which extend into the lower third of the leaf axis. There are 10 to 30 leaflets, which are oblong-lanceolate to lanceolate, pointed at the ends and toothed along the edges of the outer half of the leaflet. Leaflets in the middle of the leaf are long and wide.
Like all Zamias, Z. amazonum is dioecious, with each plant being either male or female. Male strobili (cones) are cylindrical, long and in diameter, brown in color, and stand on long peduncles (stalks). Female cones are long and in diameter, dark red-brown in colored, and stand on long stalks. Seeds are ovoid, long and in diameter, with a red sarcotesta (outer fleshy coat).
Zamia amazonum is locally abundant in the upper Amazon basin in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela, and in Chocó Department on the Paciific coast of Colombia. The species name refers to its wide-spread occurrence in the Amazon basin.
Crushed Z. amazonum root that has been soaked in water overnight is reported to be used as a treatment for leishmaniasis by the Chayahuita people of northeastern Peru.[1]