Here are a couple new photos from today. I harvested these two male cones.

Jody

Spectacular photos, Steve.
They look like they're glowing 😯

Jody, Great looking male/female cones 8)

Barb, I'll get some photos as I attempt this....
(Think I've reached my upload limit on Flickr, need to wait until it resets 🙂

Steve

Sorry! Great pics Jody.

Steve, there's no limit on a paid Flickr "pro" account (unless that's changed since Yahoo bought them).
Flickr had some burps recently, might be that.

Barb

Barb, I'm back to the "free" account 🙂
Jody's photos are a great comparison of the characteristics between male/female cones.

Steve

The picture makes the cones resemble garden lights...

great comparison of the characteristics between male/female cones.

Certainly is...now if you two could get those plants in the same area...harvest of viable seeds.

Barb

Barb, I think I mentioned in a previous post that my female sets seeds naturally almost every year. The native coontie pollinator does the work for me, and since I don't have any other Caribbean zamias in my yard that cone at the same time and there aren't any other zamias anywhere in my neighborhood that I know of, I am pretty confident that the seeds are pure Palatka Giant even though they are open pollinated. If anyone is interested in seeds from the female cones in the photo, feel free to contact me toward the end of this year and I'll let you know about this year's seed set.

Jody

I'm certain there's a ready market for those, Jody.
RPS is likely waiting at your door... 😀

Good luck with them.
Barb

Just a follow up...................

The weather turned cold after the cone emerged, and it was at least another 6-8 weeks before it became receptive.

Thanks to Jody for sending me pollen! Applied 3 times using a brush every other day.

The cone has since closed and seems to be growing in size, so hopefully success?

Steve

Wow, Steve, congratulations.

A swelling cone probably means gestation? (or whatever it's called)

It'll be neat to see what happens next and when.

Barb

Steve, I wish you luck with your pollination. However, without the pollen being injected into the inside of the cone, the chances are pretty slim. I use the wet method on all zamias, simply suspending the pollen in a small amount of purified water and injecting the liquid into the spaces between scales with a curved-ended syringe. Hopefully there was enough air movement (or possibly insect movement) to carry some of the pollen into the cone.

Jody

Barb, This is all new to me too, I think something is happening, not sure what 😀

Jody, I noticed as the cone became fully receptive it opened on the top and bottom. Seemed like an open invitation for pollinators to crawl through.
Had a little bit of pollen left over that I did mix with water and inject into the top of the cone.
Whether successful or not, this has been a great learning experience 8)

Steve

Intricate details.
Mother Nature's got it all figured out.

Good that you're hedging your bets Steve.
One of the two methods will surely succeed.

Looking forward to updates.
Barb

Here's a recent photo,

Also noticed a cone emerging on a Zamia sp. "Mexico", started these from seed about 4 years ago.

Steve

Good to see yours respond, Steve, with all your heat (and water).

Mine are croaking. 😥

Barb