  An experimental and theoretical study of lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals
(LCLCs) confined in cylinders with degenerate planar boundary conditions
elucidates LCLC director configurations. When the Frank saddle-splay modulus is
more than twice the twist modulus, the ground state adopts an inhomogeneous
escaped-twisted configuration. Analysis of the configuration yields a large
saddle-splay modulus, which violates Ericksen inequalities but not
thermodynamic stability. Lastly, we observe point defects between
opposite-handed domains and explain a preference for point defects over domain
walls.
