Zamia fischeri is named after Gustav Fischer, a cycad enthusiast of the nineteenth century.

Zamia fischeri has a large stem and cones compared to its leaf size.

The leaflets are papyraceous, tapering toward the base, and are acute apically with margins having several serrations in the outermost half.

It grows as an understory plant in the oak and cloud forests of central Mexico at about 600 meters in elevation.

[1] It is found in Mexico:[1] Zamia fischeri is the host plant for Cycad leaf necrosis virus, the only known Badnavirus to infect a gymnosperm.