73 GYMNOSPERMS 



The dominant species in Australia is Cycas media, most abundant 

 around Rockhampton, but found along the Burnett and Dawson 

 rivers, at Cape Upstart, Rockingham Bay, and Mount Elliott. It is a 

 tall species, 2-3 meters in height, with occasional specimens reaching 

 6 meters (fig. 62). 



Cycas kenncdyana is found in the Normanby Ranges near Port 

 Denison, and C. normanhyana in the mountains about the mouth of 

 the Burdekin River. C. cairnsiana is in the Newcastle Range. 



Fig. 63. — Encephalailuj ji iilti ui-^,iiiiiii)u: ui; Ihc nuuinUun oxcrlookiiig Quccns- 

 town, South Africa. The low plant at the left is Aloeferox. The big rock is dolerite. — 

 From Chamberlain, The Living Cycads"" (University of Chicago Press). 



The four species just mentioned are endemic in Queensland. Three 

 others have been described from western Australia. They are not 

 very well known, and Schuster^'" lists them as varieties of Cycas 

 media. 



North of Australia, in the various islands and on the mainland of 

 China and India, are several species, some of them none too well de- 

 fined. Among these, Cycas circinalis is the most widely distributed, 

 and may be the most variable. It is so popular in cultivation that 

 reported habitats need to be checked. 



