CYCADACEJE. 



1163. C. circinalis Linn. sp. pi. 1658. Lam. encycl. ii. 231. 

 Bot. Mag. tt. 2826, 2827. — (Rheede hi. t. 13—21. Rumph. i. 87. 

 t. 22, 23.) — East Indies, especially the Moluccas. 



<? . Trunk, when attaining its full growth, from 15 to 20 feet 

 high, of an equal thickness throughout, marked with the scars whence 

 the old leaves have fallen, but scarcely annulated ; between which 

 scars, the trunk is shaggy with the old and jagged downy scales 

 or stipules, which accompany the base of the leaves ; these are cordate 

 and turgid at their base, and very much acuminated. From amongst 

 them, and at the very top of the stem, is a crown of a most beautiful 

 foliage. The spread of the leaves is 12 feet, each 6 and 8 feet long, 

 including the petiole ; for £ of the length, from the extremity, pinnated, 

 with linear-lanceolate, nearly horizontal, plane, subflexuoso-falcate 

 pinnse, from 12 to 14 inches long, dark green on the upper side, paler 

 beneath, quite glabrous, having a strong, pale midrib running through 

 the centre ; rachis unarmed ; petiole swollen at the base, clothed 

 with ferruginous, evanescent down, and unarmed ; upwards glabrous, 

 and spinous at the margin, from abortive pinna?. The young leaves 

 have a very beautiful appearance, being of a delicate pale green, and 

 having the pinnae singularly involute, like the young fronds of a 

 Fern. From among the crown of the leaves, at the top of the trunk, 

 and nearly, if not entirely sessile, is the male amentum produced. 

 This is between 4 and 5 inches long, ovate. Anthers large, _ loosely 

 imbricated, ferruginously downy; the lower half tapering, inserted 

 horizontally, the upper half taking a curvature upwards and tapering 

 into an erect, sharpened, and long point. Upon these anthers, on the 

 under side of the lower half, the numerous pollen-cells are crowded 

 sometimes singly, sometimes 2, 3, or 4 together, in which latter 

 case the opening of each cell is interiorly. The consistence of 

 these is horny ; and they contain within them a pale yellow pollen, 

 which is roundish, angular, and pellucid. Hooker. — A kind of 

 Sago is said to be produced by the interior of the stem, but not the 

 true Sago of the shops which is obtained from Sagus inermis. The 

 fruit is °eaten in the Moluccas, and a kind of flour of bad quality is 

 procured from the kernels pounded in a mortar. It is supposed that 

 the account given by Rheede of true Sago being the produce of the 

 plant is a mistake. This species also yields a clear transparent gum 

 something like Tragacanth. 



ZAMIA. 



Both $ and $ in cones terminating the trunk. $ . Anthers 

 open, in the form of peltate, woody, stalked scales, bearing pol- 

 len on their under side. ? . Carpels open, woody, peltate, 

 stalked, bearing 2 inverted ovules. Fruit the enlarged and 

 ripened cone ; seeds with a bony testa covered by a thin fleshy 

 coating. — Small trees, with scaly trunks which are either simple 

 or branched. Leaves pinnated, with the pinnae contracted at their 

 insertion into the petiole. 



*** One of the best kinds of arrow root is prepared in the 

 Bahamas from the trunk of some species of this genus, but from which 

 is unknown ; no doubt some one of the following, all of which are 

 West Indian. 



550 



