l6 Ward — Sjiecies of Cijcadeoidcn fro)n Mai'iiland. 



the lower wn^^Xe much sharper than the upper, the latter sometimes re- 

 duced to a curve, ]4 millimeters high, 26 millimeters wide; ramentum 

 walls moderately thick, usually solid ; vascular handles of the petioles 

 arranged in a row entirely around them and near the margin of a ci'oss 

 section, also sometimes a few near the center ; spadices abundant, irreg- 

 ularly scattered over all parts of the surface, usually showing the marks 

 left by the essential floral organs or a central cavity occupying their place, 

 surrounded by curved or crescent-shaped pits concenti'ically arranged in 

 several rows and set concave to the axis of the spadix, representing the 

 involuci'al bracts ; armor varying from 25 to 75 millimeters in thickness, 

 this variation often great in different parts of the same specimen ; cam- 

 bium layer indistinct; liber zone not generally distinguishable from the 

 wood; the latter in two or three zones, medullary rays faint; medulla 

 well marked, homogeneous, usually spongy in appearance. 



This species represents a type quite distinct from all the others, and 

 the cycadean trunks of the Iron Ore deposits of Maryland might be divided 

 into two classes, one of wliich should emlu-ace all the forms included in 

 the six species above described and the other those that have been re- 

 ferred to this species. The fact that the rock in the latter is always firm, 

 hard, and heavy and usually dark colored is not merely an accident of 

 preservation, but results in some ol)scure way from the nature of the vege- 

 table tissues. The trunks are generally larger and the leaf scars much 

 larger, though they have nearly the same form and arrangement. The 

 reproductive organs are more abundant anil usually very regular and 

 definite in their character. 



Eighteen specimens belong to this group, all but one of which are of 

 Mr. Bibbins' collecting. The one exception is the fragment in the ^lu- 

 seum of Johns Hopkins University that Professor Fontaine described as 

 " Fragment No. 1," which I call No. 4. The most typical specimen is the 

 great "Polly Jones Trunk," No. 1427 of the JMuseum of the Woman's 

 College of Baltimore. Tlie other sixteen in their numerical order are as 

 follows: 1420, 1462, 1463, 1464, 1465, 146(), 1468, 1478, 1480, 1482, 148:5, 

 1484, 1487, 3047, 3054, 3348. Of these, Nos. 1462, 14(!3, 1465, 1468, and 

 1482 are large, nearly perfect trunks, and Nos. 1463, 1468, and 1482 have 

 the terminal bud preserved. The rest are fragments, but many of them 

 are quite full and show important chai'acters on the fractured surfaces 

 that do not appear in the more complete specimens. No. 1483 has been 

 cut through and the surfaces polished, and admirably shows the internal 

 arrangements of the leaves, fruiting organs, and vascular strands supply- 

 ing tliem. Nos. 1484 and 3054 give the maximum development of the 

 leading characters, especially those of the fruiting organs. 



In many respects this species represents the most important and inter- 

 esting group of Maryland cycads, nearly all the specimens of which, as 

 we have seen, having been secured by ]\Ir. Bibbins, and I have therefore 

 sought in causing the species to bear his name to make that name forever 

 inseparable from the class of objects which he has done more than all 

 others combined to bring out of their hiding places into the light of scien- 

 tific investigation. 



