174 ^^ LOWER FLORIDA WILDS 



When the large, oval, indigestible seeds ripen 

 and fall to the ground they are covered with a 

 lovely orange or scarlet pulp enclosed in a glossy 

 sac. This bright color attracts gophers and 

 various small wood animals and possibly certain 

 birds that relish the pulp. Thus a means of dis- 

 tribution is also provided. 



This plant is a very old-fashioned one. It is in 

 fact a member of an order (Cycadacese) which 

 belongs to the distant past. The group first 

 appeared in the Devonian and reached the apex of 

 its development in the Mesozoic, when these 

 plants were so abundant that the period is some- 

 times called the "Age of Cycads." From then 

 on, the order decreased until now only about a 

 hundred species exist, all inhabiting the warmer 

 parts of the earth. The leaves are pinnate, usually 

 rolled up when young and uncoiling as they 

 develop, after the manner of fern fronds. The 

 stamens and pistils are nude, there being no other 

 parts to the primitive flowers, and finally the seeds 

 are destitute of envelopes. Two species of the 

 order inhabit Lower Florida, Zamia pumila and Z. 

 floridana, and both have the seeds attached to the 

 inside of shieldlike plates as just described. 



