932 



CYCAS 



CYCAS 



glossy, fern-like, stiff but gracefully curved pinnate 

 Ivs. : trunk clothed with the compacted woody bases 

 of petioles, usually columnar and simple, but often 

 branching when the terminal bud has been cut off, or 

 in clusters of several springing from the base of an old 

 trunk which has been cut down; in addition to the 

 true Ivs., modified Ivs. in the form of simple short 

 subulate woolly prophylla; true Ivs. 5-8 ft. long, long- 

 petioled, the petiole bearing short deflexed spines near 

 the base; pinnse alternate, 10-12 in. long and quite 

 narrow, linear-lanceolate, acuminate, subfalcate, the 

 midrib stout and prominent beneath, bright green 

 above, paler beneath: male inn. in the form of an erect 

 woolly cone composed of scales bearing globose pollen- 

 sacs on the under surface and tapering at the apex 

 into a long spine; female infl. in the center of the crown 

 of Ivs., consisting of a tuft of spreading buff-colored, 

 woolly, pinnately-notched Ivs. (carpophylls) about 

 6-12 in. long, spinous toothed along the margin, and 

 bearing in the notches the naked ovules; ovules 3-5 

 pairs, borne above the middle: fr. about the size of a 

 walnut, with a thin fleshy covering, and a fleshy 

 starchy endosperm resembling that of a horse-chestnut. 

 S. India, Ceylon, Sumatra, Java, Philippines, Madagas- 

 car, E. Trop. Afr., Guam. In Fla. the Ivs. of this 

 species are often destroyed by sharp frosts, but the 

 trunk is rarely injured and will soon send forth new 

 Ivs. when the weather becomes warm again. Nehrling 

 recommends that fine specimens be protected by a tent 

 or by a house of lattice-work covered with canvas, 

 and with the sides also inclosed if necessary. In this 

 house a large kerosene lamp will be sufficient to keep 

 the plant from freezing. In Tampa, Fla., this spe- 

 cies appears to flourish, some of the specimens having 

 trunks 6-8 ft. high. It grows best in rich moist soil 

 and in partial shade. On the island of Guam, the nuts 

 of this species form a food staple for the natives in 

 times of famine following hurricanes. These are so 

 poisonous that the water in which the kernels are 

 soaked is fatal to animals. After having been soaked 

 for some time and the water repeatedly changed, the 

 kernels become harmless, and are ground up into meal 

 and dried for future use. They are usually prepared 

 in the form of cakes, which are said to be nutritious 

 although rather tasteless. 



DD. Lvs. less than 5 ft. long; pinnse 3-8 in. long. 



media, R. Br. NUT PALM of Australia. Trunk 

 attaining height of 8-10 ft. or sometimes twice this 



height, rarely 

 branched at the 

 top: Ivs. 2-4 ft. 

 long or more, the 

 pinnse very nu- 

 merous, straight 

 or falcate, ob- 

 tuse or pungent- 

 pointed, flat or 

 slightly concave 

 above when 

 young, promi- 

 nently keeled 

 beneath, the mar- 

 gins often slightly 

 decurrent on the 

 rachis, glabrous or 

 slightly pubescent 



1181. Cycas revoluta. when young, the 



longer ones vary- 

 ing from 3-8 in., the lower ones shorter and more con- 

 tracted at the base, the lowest ones prickle-like, some- 

 times continuing to base of petiole: cones variable in 

 size, but apparently smaller than in C. circinalis, 

 which this species otherwise resembles; seeds 1-1 % 

 in. long, glabrous. Austral, along the northern coasts; 

 also Queensland. 



cc. Scales of male infl. shortly acuminate. 



Rumphii, Miq. Closely related to the preceding, but 

 growing taller in its natural habitat, sometimes reach- 

 ing a height of 20 ft. or more: Ivs. shorter and with 

 fewer Ifts. : scales of male cone thickened and obliquely 

 truncate at the tip, with a short upcurved sometimes 

 caducous point; carpophylls a foot long, narrower 

 than in C. circinalis, with an entire often elongate 

 subulate tip; seeds oval or subglobose, 2-2% in. long 

 by lM-l%in. diam. Moist wooded regions of Burma, 

 Ceylon (possibly intro.), Andaman Isls., Nicobar, 

 Malaya, New Guinea, and N. Austral. This species 

 when growing in cult, is usually much lower, and 

 has a full large crown of Ivs., with lanceolate pinnae 

 thinner and paler than those of C. circinalis. Much 

 grown in tropical gardens of E. Indies; male plants 

 rare. 



BB. Modified fr. -bearing Ivs. pectinate along the margins. 



c. Trunk much swollen at the base: blade of carpophyll 



ovate-rhomboid. 



siamensis, Miq. A small palm-like tree: sts. 2-6 ft., 

 much swollen at the base: Ivs. 2-4 ft., stiff spreading; 

 pinnee 3-8 in. long, linear mucronate-acuminate; blade 

 of carpophyll tawny-woolly when young, at length 

 glabrescent above, ovate-rhomboid, long-acuminate, 

 margin deeply pectinate lacerate: scales of male infl. 

 about %in. long, with a slender terminal point of the 

 same length: seeds 1^ in. long, obo void-oblong. 

 Burma, Siam, Cochin China. Apparently hardy in 

 Fla. It is rare, occurring in only a few gardens. It is 

 a beautiful species, easily recognizable by its trunk 

 which is swollen very much like that of Dasylirion, 

 and according to Nehrling grows much faster than the 

 species more commonly cult. It is certainly deserving 

 of more general cult. 



cc. Trunk not swollen at the base: blade of carpophyll 

 broadly orbicular. 



pectinata, Griff. Fig. 1180. A glabrous evergreen 

 palm-like tree, to 10 ft. high in its native habitat but 

 usually much shorter in cult. : Ivs. ascending, recurved, 

 5-7 ft. long; pinnse 7-10 in. long, narrowly linear taper- 

 ing into a minute apical spine, subfalcate; blade of 

 carpophyll covered with dense tawny wool throughout, 

 6 in. long, broadly orbicular, long-acuminate, its 

 margin deeply subulate-pectinate, stalk about equal in 

 length to the blade with 2 or 3 pairs of ovules above 

 the middle; spiny marginal teeth %in. long; terminal 

 point \ l /i in. long, tapering from a flat base, with 1 or 

 2 spinous teeth: seeds about \Yi in. long, ovoid: male 

 cone 18 in. long, 6 in. diam., cylindric-ovoid ; anther- 

 bearing scales 1J/2 in. long, 1 in. diam., deltoid-clavate, 

 the apex much thickened, abruptly acuminate, ter- 

 minal point IK in. long,- spine-like, ascending. India, 

 Nepaul, East Bengal, 2,000 ft. elevation, Assam, 

 Martaban, in pine forests. G.F. 4:114 (adapted in 

 Fig. 1180). 



AA. Margins of pinnse revolute. 

 B. Blade of carpophyll pectinate. 



revolfita, Thunb. SAGO PALM. Figs. 1181, 1182. 

 A graceful palm-like tree or shrub, becoming 6-10 ft. 

 high, with the trunk simple or branching: Ivs. long and 

 recurved (2-7 ft.); pinnse numerous, subopposite, 

 curved downward, narrow, stiff, acute, terminating 

 in a spine-like tip, dark shining green, the margin 

 revolute; carpophylls with the blade broadly ovate, 

 densely clothed with brownish felt-like wool, pec- 

 tinate; ovules 2 or 3 pairs borne near the base: fr. 

 ovate, compressed, red, about 1H m - long. S. Japan. 

 This is the most common cycas in conservatories. 

 It is of Javanese origin and is much hardier than the 

 species mentioned above. In Fla. it is usually found in 

 all of the better parks and gardens, where it is suitable- 

 as a center about which to arrange other ornamental 



