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in a young state this is in the form of a hemispheric body, a con- 
dition in which they are usually found in cultivation, for they are 
of very slow growth and require years to attain any size. From 
the apex of the stem arises a crown of pinnate leaves, in some 
species forming objects of great beauty and decorative value. 
The plants are dioecious, that is, they bear the staminate and pis- 
tillate « cones on different aes als. The former are usually 
cylindric and narrower than the ovoid pistillate cones. 
As oe in the October nate of this JouRNAL, the Garden 
collection of the Cycadaceae, or cycas family, is now located at 
the new conservatories known as range no. 2, on the eastern side 
of the grounds. There are three species of the Kafir-bread plants 
in this collection. One of these, a native of tropical Africa, is 
shown in two specimens, a large and a small one, and is called 
the armored cad alined or Kafir-bread, from the aggressive 
character of its spiny lea account of these it is known to 
botanists as pa ie oe The leaves of the larger 
plant are from four to five feet long and ten to twelve inches 
wide, and of a gray-green; they are stiff and uncompromising. 
The leaflets are five to six inches long, very thick and firm, 
lanceolate in outline, and with one or two large lobes or teeth 
n the Jower side, dees teeth sometimes being two and a half 
inches ee and giving to the leaflet a bifid appearance. The 
lobes or teeth are spreading and more or less turned from the 
plane of the leaflet, thus forming an effective armor which serves 
well to protect the plant from injury. This plant is now making 
a cone for the first time; it is pistillate, and is shown in the 
accompanying illustration. Ovoid in shape and gray-green in 
color, it is thirteen inches long and seven and a half inches in 
diameter, with an obtuse apex. This interesting plant will be 
found at the eastern end of the central bed, on the south side. 
0 opposite side of the same bed is a large plant of Exceph- 
alartos villosus, a native of southern Africa, which is known as 
the golden-fruited Kafir-bread, from the apricot color of its 
pistillate cone. This plant bore a pistillate cone some time 
The species is quite in contrast with the one just seceibed. 
The leaves are flexible, and long and elegant, with the apex 
