i. BOTANICAL GAZETTE 
is always vertical. As in Dioon, the foliage display consists of © 
two crowns, the latest fresh and bright green, while the previous : 
one has a dull green color, or may appear pale or gray on account — 
of the numerous small lichens which almost invariably incrust the ~ 
leaves of the second crown. Few plants have more than to leaves” 
in a crown, so that the foliage display of a large plant consists 
of about 20 leaves. On the larger plants the leaves are 1.5~2 : 
meters in length and have 40-50 leaflets on each side, the leaflets 
measuring about 50 cm. in length and 2 cm. in width. The varia- 
tion in the leaves of plants of different ages is readily seen from he 
fact that the first leaf of a seedling usually has 4 leaflets, sometimes 
only 2, and that these early leaves are shorter, thinner, and nara 
than the leaves of old plants. Differences may also appear in 
margins of the leaflets and in the spines on the lower part of the 
petiole, so that identifications based upon the leaf alone must be 
regarded with some suspicion. 
A section of the adult stem shows that it is strictly monoxylic, 
with a very narrow zone of wood showing no growth rings (3). 
The strobili 
Strobili are not abundant, and occasionally Mr. Gaw had di 
culty in securing them. When very young, the ovulate 
staminate strobili have the same general appearance, but even then 
they may be distinguished superficially by the much larger num) 
of sporophylls on the staminate strobili, and by the fact that 
staminate strobilus is somewhat conical, while the ovulate is cy. 
drical. At maturity the staminate strobilus is quite pointed, wh 
the ovulate is very evenly cylindrical and is much larger. 
THE STAMINATE STROBILUS 
The staminate strobilus reaches its full size and sheds its p 
about the middle of March. The largest staminate strobili 
about 20 cm. in length, but the average length is not more 
15 cm. A typical staminate strobilus is shown in fig. 2. 
_ sporophylls are somewhat wedge-shaped, distinctly stalked, a! 
are tipped by the two horny spines which give the name to. 
