346 cxxx. CYC ADAGES (Prain). [Cycas, 



au debut du xx* Siecle, 117 ; Meckel in Ann. Miis. Col. Marseille, 

 ser. 2, viii. 48, 256, 276, 328 ; ' Kirk ex Stapf in Kew Bulletin, 1916, 

 2 ; Stapf, I.e. 8. C. circinalis, Pet. Thouars, Hist. Veg. 2, tt. 1, 2 ; 

 Richard, Conif. et Cycad. 187 in part, tt. 25, 26 but excl. t. 24 ; Bojer, 

 Hort. Maurit. 301 ; Pollen, Recherches s.l. Faune de Madagascar, 

 Rel. Voy. t. 19 ; Regel in Gartenfl. xxv. 1876, 49, as to syn. C. mada- 

 qasmriensis only ; Dyer in Challenger Rep. Bot. i. iii. 207 and in 

 Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. v. 656, as to African material ; Engl, in Pfl. 

 Ost-Afr. A. 5, C. 422 ; Warburg in Engl. I.e. B. 167, 172 ; Werth, 

 Veg. Insel. Sansibar, 94 ; not of Linn. C. circinalis, subsp. Thouarsii, 

 Engl. Pflanzenw. Afr. ii. 82. C. madagascariensis , Miq. Comment. 

 Phytogr. 127, Monogr. Cycad. 32, and in Linna3a, xvii. 1843, 699, 

 excl. cit. t. 24 Richard ; Duchartre, I.e. 246, as syn. ; Heckel, I.e. 329. 

 C. comorensis, Bruant, Cat. printemps 1888, n. 195, 5 ; Duchartre, 

 I.e. 246, as syn. C. sp., Duchartre in Journ. Soc. Nat. Hort. Fr. ser. 

 3, ix. 48. 



Mozanib. Dist. Zanzibar : cultivated specimens, Kirk ! Miss Thfickeray ! 

 Werth. German East Africa : Mrogoro ; thickets at Ussungula, on the Ruvu, 

 about 50 miles inland from Bagamoyo and Dar-es-Salaam, Bley. Portuguese 

 East Africa : Zambesi Delta ; on the banks of the Luabo distributary, Kirk ! 

 sea-coast between the Kongoni and the Melambe mouths, Kirk ! 



Also in the Comoro Islands, in Madagascar and; as an introduced species, 

 in Mauritius. 



Possibly, though this is doubtful, the Mpapindi of the Kisuah [Stuhlmcniv). 

 This species is said to be a source of Sago in Madagascar and ]ierhaps Mauritius 

 {Baron, Bojer, Heckel) ; there is so far no evidence of its economic use on the 

 African continent ( Warburg). A littoral species in Mozambique, it appears to be 

 absent from the coast of German East Africa {Engler) though it is said to occur 

 there some distance inland [Bley, Warburg). The only African member of the 

 genus Cycas, this species is most nearl}' allied to C. Rumphii, Miq., from south- 

 eastern Asia {Braun), and rather less closely to C. circinalis, Linn., from southern 

 India and south-eastern Asia {Stapf), of which it has been considered by somc^ 

 authors to be a geographical form. Undoubtedly indigenous in the Comoro 

 group {Kirk, Hildehrandt) and in certain parts of northern and eastern Mada- 

 gascar {Drake del Castillo, Pollen, Baror.), this species may perhaps owe its 

 presence in the Zambesi delta to other than human agency. Its introduction 

 to Mauritius, apparently from Madagascar, is known to have been deliberate ; 

 in Zanzibar its occurrence is attributed to Arabs trading with the Comoro 

 Islands ( Werth) and there is at least the possibility that at Ussungula in Mrogoro 

 it may mark the site of some bygone Arab trading station. 



2. BNCEPHALARTOS, Lehm. ; Benth. et Hook, f . Gen. PI. iii. 4-J 



-J ). 



Cones 1-sexual, dioecious. Males subterrainal, peduncled, solitary 

 or several ; scales closely imbricate, apex subpeltate, somewhat 

 decurved, barren ; pollen-sacs ovoid, closely set on the lower face of 

 the claw. Females subterminal, nearly sessile, ellipsoid or oblong ; 

 scales imbricate, distinctly stipitate, peltate, thick, more or less 

 reniform, with an expanded somewhat triangular flattened, convex or 

 prismatic apex and nn ovule-bearing basal sinus on either side behind j 



