THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 119 



rfot whicli contains much starch is esteemed as an article of 

 diet hy the Seniiiiolc Indians. The short stem is under- 

 i^Mound so that the leaves come up on long petioles. The 

 leaves are close-set and luuiierous giving the plant a hushy 

 appearance nuuh like that of the cinnamon fern which it al- 

 so resemhles in height though it is much heavier appearing 

 owing to tlie greater numher of leaves. 



The coDiitie is dioecious and the sterile aments of the 

 male plant resemble far more the staminate aments of the 

 l)ine trees than they do the pineapple-cheese-like sterile cone 

 of the sago palm. They are about four or five inches in 

 length on short peduncles and are hidden down under the 

 leaves. The large cone of fertile fiowers, also hidden among 

 the leaves, is tiot much larger than a large pine-cone but un- 

 like it and a er}- heavy. It is composed of large hexagonal 

 scales, dark brown in color, connected by a long filament with 

 the central rachis. 



The irregularly shaped fruits are packed under the 

 scales around the rachis far more tightly than the proverbial 

 sardines in a box. The fruits, flattened on the sides w'here 

 they lie together, and deeply grooved where thev overlap the 

 filament connecting scale and rachis, consist of a round seed 

 with a hard outer covering surrounded by thick albumen. 



This interesting plant is cultivated throughout Florida as 

 an ornamental though the farther north one goes in the State 

 the less it is seen. Owing to the quantity and excellent (|uality 

 of the starch to be obtained from the stem, it should be of value 

 commercially but like a great many other plants of economic 

 value it is neglected becau.se none take the trouble to exploit it. 



