70 



GYMNOSPERMS 



tallest of all cycads, reaching a height of nearly 20 meters. It is 

 found in northeastern Queensland. 



M acrozamia moorei, at Springsure, in Queensland, about 200 miles 

 west of Rockhampton, is one of the most remarkable of all cycads. 

 The range is limited, but plants are so abundant within that range 

 that they cause great havoc among cattle, which eat the poisonous 

 green leaves (fig. 60). 



Fig. 61. — Bowenid scrnilala: a fully grown plant at 13ylicld. near Rockhampton, 

 Australia. 



In the western part of Australia, M acrozamia fraseri may be the 

 only species. It is tuberous or short stemmed and both micro- and 

 megasporophylls are prolonged into spines, sometimes as much as 

 15 cm. long, giving the cones a very characteristic appearance. 



Bowenia. — This is another genus strictly confined to Australia 

 and, as far as we know, not occurring outside of Queensland. There 

 are two species, Bowenia scrndala, at its best around Byfield and 

 Maryvale, near Rockhampton, and B. spcclabilis, in the Cairns re- 

 gion. The bipinnate leaves mark it ofT sharply from all other cycads 

 (fig. 61). 



