CYCADALES 



73 



Widely separated from the other species is Cycas madagascariensis , 

 in Madagascar. It looks like the variable C. circinalis. 



The best known of all cycads, and the most widely cultivated, is 

 the Japanese Cycas rcvoluta. It is endemic in the southernmost part 

 of Japan, and is at its best around Kagoshima. It is so well marked 

 that it is easily recognizable. In cultivation it is the most popular of 

 all cycads, and is so hardy that it might easily become established in 

 such places as Southern California and around the Gulf of Mexico. 



Fig. 64. — Encephalartos lalifrous: at Trapp's Valley, near Grahamstown, South Afri- 

 ca (February, 191 2). The two cycads at the left were said not to have grown "any" in 

 the past 40 years; the two at the right — Encephalartos altensteinii — were said to have 

 grown, in that time, "about six inches." 



While Schuster^" recognizes only eight species in this genus, 

 there are doubtless more and perhaps even twice this number. 



The remaining genera, Encephalartos and Stangeria, are endemic 

 in South Africa. 



Encephalartos. — ^There are at least 14 species of this dominant 

 African genus, most of them in Cape Colony. Encephalartos alten- 

 steinii, the most familiar species in cultivation, is abundant and is 

 found around East London, at Kentani in the Transkei, at Trapps 

 Valley, at Kranz Kloof and other places near Durban, and as far 



