226 



C Y C H R U S. 



the name Gymnosperma:, and which are distinguished 

 by the seeds being naked, and the vessels of the wood 

 having large apparent perforations, to which nothing 

 similar is seen elsewhere. 



This order was by some botanists in former times 

 included under the fern tribe, in consequence chiefly 

 of the mode in which the leaves are developed. Lin- 

 naeus originally considered it as belonging to the 

 palm tribe, to which it appears at first sight to have 

 an affinity in its large 'pinnated leaves, and simple 

 cylindrical stem. It differs, however, totally from 

 palms, in being dicotyledonous, and in having an 

 essentially exogenous stem, a gyrate vernatim and 

 naked seeds, which grow on the margin of a contracted 

 leaf. The order to which Cycadece bears the closest 

 resemblance is Coniferts, or the pine tribe. With this 

 order it agrees in the structure of its seeds, the form 

 of its inflorescence, the arrangement of the veins of 

 the leaves, the imperfect development of spiral ves- 

 sels, and the apparent perforation of the vessels of 

 the wood. 



The essential characters by which the order is dis- 

 tinguished and separated from all others are : Flowers 

 naked, dioecious, terminal ; sterile flowers monan- 

 drous, collected into cones, each floret consisting of a 

 single scale or anther, bearing the pollen on its under 

 surface in two-celled cases ; fertile flowers, either col- 

 lected into cones or surrounding the central bud in 

 the form of contracted leaves without pinna;, bearing 

 the ovules on their margin ; ovules solitary, naked, 

 with no other pericarp or covering than the scales or 

 contracted leaves upon which they are situated ; seed 

 with a horny integument; albumen Hesav. solid; 

 embryo inverted, the radicle being next the apex of 

 the seed, from which it hangs by a long 1 stalk or funi- 

 culus with which it 1ms an organic connection. 



The plants belonging to the order are trees with a 

 cylindrical undivided trunk, increasing by the deve- 

 lopment of a single terminal bud, ancl covered with 

 the scaly bases of the leaves, which are pinnated, with 

 a gyrate vernatim and parallel veins. They are na- 

 tives of tropical regions, and are found in America 

 and Asia. They also grow at the Cape of Good 

 Hope, 'and in Madagascar. In general they possess 

 mucilaginous properties. 



The genera ol the order are cycasand Zamia. 

 Cycas circinalis, broad-leaved cycas, is a native of 

 the East Indies, especially the Molucca Islands, 

 where it attains a height of fifteen or twenty feet. 

 The tree is called Indu by the natives. Its trunk is 

 covered with the scars whence the old leaves have 

 fallen, and from the top of the stem grows a crown of 

 most beautiful foliage. It bears a drupaceous, smooth, 

 reddish, orange fruit about the size ot a walnut. The 

 outer pulpy portion is about half an inch thick, and 

 surrounds the inner horny Coat, which covers a beau- 

 tiful membranaceous lining of a rich brown colour. 

 The tree was introduced into Britain by the Earl of 

 Clarendon in the year 1700. It is very ornamental 

 in our green-houses, but requires much space for the 

 full display of its leaves. 



The fruit of the tree, is used in India as an article 

 of food. From the soft centre of the stem a fari- 

 naceous substance is procured in many respects simi- 

 lar to the sago obtained from the sago palm. In 

 preparing this substance, the stem is cut into pieces, 

 several feet long, which are afterwards split longitu- 

 dinally, so as to expose the pith ; this is taken out, 

 mixed with cold water, and then beaten with a wooden 



pestle in a large mortar or trough. The mixture, 

 after being allowed to stand for some time, gradually 

 deposits 'a sediment, which is easily separated by 

 decantation. This substance which may be denomi- 

 nated spurious sago, is merely the starch contained 

 in the pith. 



The nuts after being dried for a month in the sun, 

 are beaten in a mortar, so as to separate the kernels, 

 which are afterwards made into a kind of flour : 

 much used by poor people in India as a nutritious 

 article of diet, and called by them Indum podi. 



In some Catholic countries the leaves or this plant 

 are carried in procession, and used to adorn temples 

 on Palm Sunday, in place of those of the date palm. 



Cycas rcvoluta, revolute-leaved cycas, is a native of 

 China and Japan, where it attains the height of five 

 or six feet. It produces leaves four or five feet in 

 length, which crown the trunk and form a magnificent 

 basin ten or twelve feet broad at the base. The tree 

 produces an orange-coloured drupe, nearly as large aa 

 an apricot, containing much white transparent muci- 

 lage, and enclosing an oval-shaped nut. The fruit 

 has a mealy sweetish taste, and is eaten by the Ja- 

 panese. 



From the pith of the young stem of this species 

 also, a kind of sago is procured, which is highly 

 esteemed in the countries where the tree grows. 



The plant is cultivated in stoves in this country, 

 into which it was introduced in 1799. 



Cycas inermis is another species found wild in 

 China, where it is also much cultivated for its beauty. 

 Its trunk is five feet high, and it bears an egg-shaped 

 fruit of a red colour. In Tonquin, a valuable sago is 

 made from the pith. 



The genus Zamia resembles the last in many re- 

 spects. It includes upwards of twenty species. 



Zamia spiralis, yields large nuts, which are said to 

 be eaten roasted by the natives of New South Wales. 

 Zamia cycadis, bread-tree Zamia, is a native of South- 

 ern Africa. By the Caffres and Hottentots the pith 

 of the tree after being buried in the earth for some 

 time, is made into cakes which are used for food. 



CYCHRUS (Fabricius). A genus of coleopterous 

 insects belonging to the section Pentamera and family 

 CdrabidfE. These insects are of a moderate size, 

 having the body robust and destitute of wings, the 

 upper lip notched, the upper jaws long and rather 

 slender, the maxillary and labial palpi with the last 

 joint large and spoon shaped, the tarsi are alike in 

 both sexes, and the body is much narrowed in front. 

 They are generally of a black colour, and are found 

 under the bark of decaying trees, and beneath moss 

 and dry leaves lying at their roots, more especially 

 in mountainous regions. They appear exclusively to 

 inhabit Europe, Asiatic Russia, and North America. 

 Dejean describes nine species, but there is only one 

 indigenous to this country, namely, the Ro&tratus of 

 Linnasus, a species having so much resemblance to 

 some of the darkling beetles (Melasoma] that Linri&us' 

 was misled as to its true relationship with the Carabi, 

 and placed it in the genus Tenebrio. The robust 

 structure of the mouth, however, and especially the 

 great development of the palpi, prove that its habits 

 are not less ravenous than the remainder of the family 

 to which it belongs. It is found not uncommonly in 

 the spring under dead leaves in the woods and com- 

 mons near London, and is about three quarters of an 

 inch long, and of a black colour, the elytra having a 

 granulated appearance. It owes its specific name to 



