66 



GYMNOSPERMS 



reaching a height of 8 or lo meters (fig. 57). The name, Microcycas, 

 is unfortunate, for it is one of the largest of the cycads and does not 

 look at all like Cycas. In sharp contrast with the generic name, the 

 specific name is very fitting, for the crown of leaves is exceptionally 

 beautiful. In striking contrast with the forms before mentioned, 



Fig. 57. — Microcycas calocoma with male cone: near Herradura, Cuba (October, 

 1914). 



Microcycas does not appear in cultivation in the open, and conserva- 

 tories have not been able to make it flourish. 



Zamia. — The remaining western genus, Zamia, with more than a 

 third of all the species in the family -Schuster says 28 sf)ecies -has 

 a wide distribution, its various species ranging from Florida through 

 the West Indies, through Mexico, Central America, the northern 



