JDr. J. E. Smith's Defcnptwn oftheFruhofCjicasrcvoIuta. 313 



ftalks, A fimple circle of about 40 evergreen pinnate leaves crowns 

 the fummit, forming a magnificent bafon, whofe margin mcafures 

 10 or 12 feet acrofs, and 5 or 6 feet in height above thq level of the 

 bark bed of the flove. On mounting a ladder we beheld in the bot- 

 tom of this verdant and fhining amphitheatre a circular clufler, per- 

 haps 18 inches wide, of above an hundred orange-coloured downy- 

 oval fruits, intermingled with innumerable palmate, pale brown, 

 thick and woolly leaves or fronds, each of whofe finger- like fegments 

 was tipped with a Iharp fpine. With refpe6t to its earlier ftate, the 

 Billiop has informed me, that on his arrival at Farnham early in 

 September, the gardener informed his lordlhip the Cycas^'' had borne 

 a fmgular appearance during fummer." On infpe£lion, the crown of 

 the plant was found occupied by the abovementioned woolly leaves, 

 then beautifully laciniated though not fpinous, and having the 

 appearance of a jlrobilus or cone, hollow like a bird's neft, and 

 filled with a quantity of green drupa, about the fize of half-grown 

 apricots, and intermixed with the fame kind of downy greyifh leaves 

 that furrounded them. The changes which had taken place from 

 that time to the period of my arrival were, that the w4iole clufler of 

 fronds and fruit had become rather convex than concave, the fronds 

 were browner, fpines had grown at the tip of each of their length- 

 ened fegments, and the drupae were become nearly as large as a mo- 

 derate fized apricot, and further refembled that fruit in their rich 

 orange hue and downy furface. 



On feparating fome of thefe woolly leaves, they w^re found to be 

 true fronds. Each was from 6 to 8 inches long, flefhy? entirely 

 clothed with pale brown woolly down; their lower part a flattiih flalk; 

 their middle bearing on each margin a row of 3 or four fefTile drupct'^ 

 their extremity dilated into a pinnatiiid, or rather palmate, many- 

 fmgered leaf, whofe lobes were generally curved inwards, and tipped 

 with a fpine as before mentioned. When wounded, thefe fronds' 

 Vol. VI. S s diftiiled 



