Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow . Cycads have been used as emergency food in many cultures. In Florida, however, Seminole Indians relied on starch made from the native cycad, Zamia floridana , as a primary source of calories. This plant, which covered portions of Florida, became the backbone of the arrowroot flour industry which flourished from 1850 to the 1920’s. Millions of these plants were taken from their native habitat. The rivers that received