CLATHRARIA LYELLII. 
235 
fossils, are those of the genera Cycas^ Zamia, 
YuccQy and Dracoena, The impressions of the 
petioles on the bark, bear a great resemblance to 
those on the stems of Cycas revoluta and C. cir- 
cinalis ; but, as M. Adolphe Brongniart observes, 
the dichotomous stem or branch brings it nearer 
to the Yucca and Draccena ; the internal part of 
the caudex is, however, very different to that of the 
true monocotyledonous plants. In the Draccena, 
there are not an internal axis and distinct bark, as 
in the fossil ; and the bases of the leaves in the 
former are more transverse. 
Among the numerous specimens of this plant in 
my cabinet, are two ])ortions of the axis of the 
same stem, which fit into each other, the one ex- 
tremity being slightly convex, and the other con- 
cave, to receive it ; the first of these is figured 
(Plate I. fig. 6.), and is remarkable for the oblique 
transverse direction which its fibres assume. When 
these two portions are placed together, an 
elliptical opening is left on one side, indicating 
(as M. Adolphe Brongniart remarks, who obliged 
me by examining this specimen,) the origin of a 
lateral branch, or rather of a floral axis, the axis 
of the panicle, as in the Draccena ; a proof that the 
C. Lyellii approximates very nearly to Draccena, 
or rather to Xanthorrea, the stem of which has 
exactly the same structure as to its essential cha- 
* A beautiful plant of this species exists in the unrivalled collection 
of living palms, of Messrs. Loddiges of Hackney. The scorings on the 
stem, formed by the shedding of the leaves, are very like those on 
C. Lyellii; the leaves that remain are sent off from the upper part of 
the plant. 
