88 



THE LIVING CYCADS 



at Grahamstown, South x\frica, a specimen of the latter 

 species bore three cones in 191 2. One of the cones had 

 shed about half of its seeds, but the other two were just 

 ready to open. They weighed forty-six and forty-eight 

 pounds, and presumably the third cone was at least as 

 heavy, since such cones are not quite simultaneous, and 



I'iG. 32. — Dioon cdiilc: two male plants with cones at the left; a 

 female plant with a large cone at the right, Chavarrillo, Mexico. 



the lirst to appear is likely U) be the largest and most 

 vigorous, so that the combined weight must ha\e been 

 more than one hundred and forty pounds. When there 

 is only one cone it ma\ be much larger. Mr. J. T. 

 Butters, director of St. George's Park at Port Elizabeth, 

 told me that in such cases the cone may reach a weight 

 of eighty pounds, and in one case a cone weighed more 



