THE AUSTRALIAN CYCADS 35 



scores of fine plants, some of them bearing cones. It 

 was the typical Bowenia spectahilis, by some botanists 

 regarded as the only species in the genus. I made 

 photographs and notes and secured material. The 

 beauty of the glossy, dark-green leaves gave the specific 

 name spectahilis to this species. Some leaves which had 

 been removed from the plant and had been lying in the 

 blazing tropical sun for three days still looked fresh and 

 green. It would be a popular hothouse plant if gardeners 

 could only learn how to grow it. 



When I returned to Rockhampton, Mr. Simmons, 

 director of the botanical garden of that place, gave me 

 directions for reaching a variety of Bowenia spectahilis 

 which could be found at Maryville and Byfields, about 

 twenty miles from Yeppoon, a small town east of Rock- 

 hampton. There was only one house at Maryville, and 

 only one man lived in it; but at Byfields there were two 

 houses and three bachelor brothers who lived as com- 

 fortably as people could under such circumstances. 

 Bowenia was abundant, not scattered specimens, as at 

 Cairns, but thousands forming a prominent feature of 

 the floor of the scanty Eucalyptus forest. Both stem 

 and leaf differ so decidedly from those of Bowenia 

 spectahilis that I have no hesitation in calling the plant 

 a distinct species, Bowenia serrulata, from the serrate 

 margin of the leaflets, the margins in the other species 

 being quite smooth. Cones were very abundant, so 

 that it was easy to secure material. 



Although the plant seems to baffle gardeners, in its 

 native surroundings it has a remarkable hold on life. 

 Along the river, where the current had washed nearly 

 all the soil from the stem and roots, plants were putting 



