Coontie

Coontie, Zamia integrifolia, is a small cycad native to Florida and parts of the southeastern United States and the Caribbean, growing as a low, palm-like plant with a mostly underground stem. Its starchy roots were processed by indigenous peoples and later by settlers into a flour-like starch, an early Florida industry, despite the plant's natural toxicity requiring careful preparation to remove harmful compounds before consumption; it also serves as the primary host plant for the caterpillars of the atala butterfly.