Cycas.] Cycadece. 121 



Submerged in water in tanks, lakes, and ponds in the low country ; 

 common, especially in the dry region. 



Throughout the Eastern Tropics. 



* Sir J. Hooker is probably correct in referring this to the cosmopolitan 

 species C. deinersum, L. Our Ceylon forrh is that figured in Wight, Ic. 

 1948, f. 3, as C. iubej-citlatwii, Cham.' — Trimen. 



We have no species of Gnetacea; nor any Conifera in Ceylon. Of the 

 latter Order a single species, Podocarpus latifolia, Wall., occurs in the 

 hills of S. India, but the Peninsula is otherwise devoid of Conifers. 



CXXIIL— CYCADE^. 



Low trees with a (usually unbranched) cylindric trunk,, 

 clothed with the compacted woody bases of petioles ; 1. in a 

 terminal crown, of two kinds, simple short sessile subulate 

 woolly prophylla, and long petioled pinnate true leaves with 

 alternate pinnules, involute in vernation ; infl. dioecious; male 

 a peduncled, erect, woolly cone, consisting of a short axis, 

 clothed with closely imbricate cuneiform scales, each scale 

 bearing on its under surface groups of 3-5 globose anthers ; 

 fem. infl. a whorl of long spreading woolly open carpels 

 (carpophylls), bearing on marginal notches one or a few 

 naked orthotropous ovules; seeds large, globose or oblong, 

 testa thinly fleshy, crustaceous within ; endosperm copious, 

 fleshy and farinaceous ; embryo small, axile. 



I may remind the reader, that in accordance with Dr. Trimen's pro- 

 cedure in this work, the above ordinal description is restricted to the 

 characters of the Ceylon genus. For the understanding of the pecu- 

 liarities of the Cycadece, which belong to a different class of plants from 

 Monocotyledons and Dicotyledons, the ordinary botanical text-books 

 must be consulted. 



CYCAS, L. 



For characters, see Order. — Sp. 12 ; 5 in Fl. B. Ind. 



Scales of male cone tapering into a long spine . . i. C. circinalis. 

 Scales of male cone shortly acuminate . . .2. C. Rumphii. 



I. C. circinalis, L. Sp. PL 1188 (1753). Bladu, 5. 

 Fl. Zeyl. n. 393. Moon, Cat. 70. Thw. Enum. 294. C. P. 3689. 

 Fl. B. Ind. V. 656. Rheede, Hort. Mai. iii. tt. 13-21. Bot. Mag. tt. 

 2826, 7. 



Stem attaining 1 5 ft, simple or forked, glabrous, brown ; 

 prophylla 2-3 in. long; 1. 5-9 ft; petiole 18-24 in., with short 

 deflexed spines near the base ; Iflts. 10-12 in., by about I in. 

 wide, linear-lanceolate, acuminate, subfalcate, midrib stout 

 beneath, bright green, glabrous ; male cone 1-2 ft., shortly 



