CYC AS RUMPHII. 
189 
was mistaken with regard to his species. But it is of interest 
to note that Rock House, where Ferguson obtained male 
C. Rumj[>hii, was once the residence of Sir Hardinge Giffard. 
Bennett’s statement about the plant transferred to Peradeniya 
is perhaps only another instance of his characteristic 
optimism.” — Ed.] 
So far then all search has been without any positive result. 
Further, I did not even find male cones of any of the Cycads 
in the neighbourhood of Colombo. The fate of the prosperous 
young ovules that start life in this district is then settled by a 
rigid law ; they lack a stimulus to further growth, and naturally 
shrivel in course of time, decay, and fall to the ground. A 
great number of these ovules have been examined at different 
intervals ; not one showed the presence of pollen grains. 
Frequently, however, they contained spores of fungi, which at 
a later stage produced a mycelium and caused the decay of 
the tissues. But, as will be explained later on, the growth 
of the fungus is consequent upon the lack of vitality in non- 
pollinated ovules, and not the cause that checks their growth. 
However, the growth of ovules of G. Rumjphii to the full 
size of mature seeds at Peradeniya and other localities, but 
without ever producing an embryo, offered a more tempting 
problem, and one that was likely to yield more interesting 
results. It could not be a mere question of climatic conditions ; 
for, although Peradeniya is situated at a higher altitude (some 
1,600 feet), Matara, for instance, is on the same level as 
Colombo, and, like the latter place, in the vicinity of the sea. 
We must therefore look for some more important physiological 
factor. Now, at Peradeniya, male cones of Encephalartos or 
Macrozamia are to be found at practically any season of the 
year ; while quite recently I came across a male cone of 
C. circinalis in the same locality. I was also fortuna,te 
enough in finding lately at Henaratgoda a gigantic cone of 
C. circinalis 2 feet 8| inches high ; and I also met with a 
similar male cone while visiting Matara. It must be noted 
that the rarity of male cones in the two last localities corre- 
sponds with the spasmodic occurrence of fully grown-up ovules 
in the same places ; at Peradeniya, on the other hand, the 
abundance of the same ovules may be a^ccounted for by the 
