Dion edule has been cultivated at Kew, almost ever 
since its introduction into Europe, and thrives both in the 
cool end of the Palm House and in the octagon of the Tem- 
perate House, forming a trunk 3 to 4 feet high and 8 to 10 
inches in diameter. The spread of the crown is 8 to 10 feet, 
and contains as many as 50 fronds, each 4 to 5 feet in length, 
and 6 to 9 inches in breadth. Both sexes cone frequently, 
the male cone varying from 9 to 12 inches in length, the 
female from 7 to 12 inches. It is a variable plant, and the 
three species cited under the synonyms were founded upon 
variations in the form of the fronds, in the number of their 
nerves, and their slight toothing in a young state. A fourth 
species has lately been proposed by Lemaire, under the name 
of D. strobilaceum, of which I know nothing. 
The seeds of Dion are eaten by the Mexicans, both the 
fleshy testa and the albumen, which latter in other Cycadew 
is full of a starch that affords an excellent arrow-root. 
Miquel observes that the genus Dion is more nearly allied to 
certain fossil genera of Cycadee than is any other living 
representative of the order, and that in the form of the in- 
florescence and insertion of the ovules it closely resembles 
the genus Zamoistrobus—J. D. H. 
Fig. 1.—Reduced figure of the whole plant ; 2, portion of frond ; and 3, top of 
stem, petiole and male cone, both of the natural size ; 4, scale of male cone seen 
from above; 5, the same seen from below, slightly magnified ; 6, anther ; 7, 
pollen grains, both highly magnified ; 8, lateral and, 9, central view of scale of 
female cone, of the natural size. 
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