Zamia integrifolia is toxic to cats, dogs and horses. The reported severity is critical. Also known as Coontie.
This plant is known to be potentially deadly!
If your animal ate this plant, call your veterinarian now, or one of these services.
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Ireland has no animal poison service for owners. Call your veterinarian. An Irish veterinarian can consult the Veterinary Poisons Information Service in the United Kingdom.
Giftinformationscentralen stopped answering questions about animals on 1 July 2018. Call your veterinarian or an animal hospital.
Vomiting Dark Stools Jaundice Increased Thirst Bloody Diarrhea Bruising Liver Failure Death Drooling Loss Of Appetite Depression Diarrhea Weakness Incoordination
The color of each symptom follows the severity scale above.
Zamia integrifolia, also known as coontie, is a small, tough, woody cycad native to the southeastern United States, the Bahamas, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Puerto Rico. It is the only cycad native to the continental United States. Traditionally, it was used by Indigenous Americans to make starch.
Indigenous tribes of Florida like the Seminole and Tequesta ground the root and soaked it overnight; afterwards, they rinsed it with running water for several hours to remove the rest of the water-soluble toxin cycasin. The resulting paste was then left to ferment before being dried into a powder. The resulting powder could then be used to make a bread-like substance. By the late 1880s, several mills in the Miami area started to produce Florida arrowroot until their demise after World War I. Seeds generally fall close to the parent plant, although about five percent of seeds are found more than four meters away. Some authors believe that birds and small mammals are responsible for that dispersal. While such behavior has not been observed, marks on seeds, and the location of seeds under shrubs where birds perch and small mammals shelter indicate that the seeds have been carried there. The size of the seeds probably restricts how far birds can carry seeds.
The whole plant, except for the sarcotesta, the pulpy covering of the seeds, is very toxic, containing a toxin called cycasin which can cause liver failure that can lead to death, but if proper precautions are taken it can be leached with water due to it being a water-soluble molecule. The seeds also contain a toxic glycoside which causes headaches, vomiting, stomach pains and diarrhoea if ingested, and Beta-methylamino-alanine, which can cause central nervous system failure.
Also recorded as Bay-rush, Comfort Root and Florida Arrowroot.
Countries with the most wild observations, from GBIF data.