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Abstract
The Zamia skinneri complex is a long-confused group of arborescent, plicate-leaved, tropical cycads distributed from Panama to Nicaragua. Recently published evidence (Taylor et al., 2008) has supported a taxonomically sound application of the name Z. skinneri to populations of green-emergent leaved plants along coastal mainland Bocas del Toro, Panama, and suggested that the “red emergent skinneri� taxon from central Atlantic Panama lacked a formal name. The five currently recognized species in the complex are summarized herein, along with a taxonomic key that can be used to separate them. A new, preliminary, morphometric analysis of select vegetative characters from several populations in north-central and northwestern Panama supports the separation of species as presented in Taylor et al. (2008) and suggests that the Skinneri Complex is comprised of a central genetic reservoir of coastal mainland populations surrounded by several incipient allopatric species. The necessity of a follow-up molecular study is evident.
