^ 



' ■ 



ROST; — MEXICAX AND CENTRAL AMERICAN PLANTS 



91 



About the year 1846, we received from Mr. Eoppor, of the Real del Monte Com- 

 pany's establish ill cut, Mexico, some remarkable plants in the funn of tubers, a foot 

 and half long, and lu^arly as bi^li aboveground, the i^urface of M'hich is formed by a 

 number of wrinkled tubercles, slightly elevate<l, and somewhat circinately wrinkled; 

 from a few of which appeared tufts of rigid, subulate leaves, 1 to 2 feet long, in. form 

 and texture resembling those of some Dasylirium. The general aspect of the tubers 

 remind one of the well-known " Klephant's-foof of South Afrif^a, or of some 

 remarkable Dioscoreae which wecuUivale from Mexico, These remained dormant for 

 some years, but one of them has lately produced more copious tufts of foliage and 

 panicles of flowers; and precisely accord (the female flowers are, however, wanting to 

 our plants) with the Un^yJirivm Ilarhreffianvm of /uccarini, which Hartweg sent 

 from Zacatecas, in Mexico; and a Dasylirium of Mr. Charles Wright ("Cull. N. Mex. 

 1851-2"), n. 1^18, also seems to be identical; but neither of tliese collectf>rs has 

 made a note on the nature of the plant, so that whetber we are to consider this 

 tuber as the normal condition of the stem or caudex of this species, or whether we 

 are to look ujion it as an acci<U^ntal i-ollection or congeries of united stems (a kiJid of 

 monstrosity), still remains a doubt in our minds. All the Dasyliria yet known to us 

 have separate, unbranched, and distinct stenjs, m<»re or less elongated, as in the 

 caulescent si^ecies of Agave, and as may be seen in our figures of two of the species 

 of this remarkable genus, at our Tab. 50;^0 and Tab. 5041. The flowers of the pani- 

 cles develo]> tlicmselves very slowly, and the withered stalks and branches remain 

 a long time attached to the trunk. Mr. Bentham compares this plant with the 

 CordgUue longifolia of IL E. K. ; but the very lar^i*, almost sheathing bracteas, rather 

 than'leaves (which latter do not appear in the figure given by Humboldt), an<l the 

 widely different ramilication of the panicle, and the acuminated sepals, indicate 

 somethin^^ verv different. 



MOLINA. 



a 



The f^emis Molina as first described contained but one specie^^, viz, 

 iV^ gcorgiava^ Avliicli therefore is the tyj)e of tlie gemis. After exclud- 



Y\i\.h.—Yx\\\\.ryi:SiMnaaliamiranoai}a. a, Side 

 view; h^ crus« section .showiiig^ set-il in one 

 i*on and \indevolopod ovnlos in two. 

 Both scale 2. 



Fi«. C)-— Fruit of Nolfna elcgavs 

 a, Side view; h, cross soction show- 

 ing- seeds m two cells and unde- 

 veloped ovulesin all. Both scale 2 



FjGURE 5 



\\\^ from X(dina those species which l)idonj^ to Beuucarnea Ave have 

 left twenty fepecie^, nt> follows: 



Nolina altamiranoana Rone, J'roc. Nat. Mns. 29: 438. 1W05. 

 Nolina belding-i Brandegee, Zoo 1 : 305, 18!)0. 



Nolina big^elovii (Torr.) ^. Watn. Proc. Am. Acad. 14: 247. 1879. 

 Nolina brittoniana Xash, r>ull. Torr. Club 22: 158'. 1895. 



Nolina elegans Tioye^ yp. nov. Figuke 6. 



Probably aranlescent; leaves 50 tu GO cm. long, 9 to 12 mm. broad, stiff, yellow- 

 ish, both surfaces smooth, the margins serrulate; infloreyceuce a narrow ]>anicle, 

 1 to 3 meters long; flowering brimrhes ascending; bractleta scarious, their niarghis 

 lacerate; pedicels 8 to 9 mm. long, jointed a littlt^ aliove their base; sepals ohtuse, 

 scarious-margined; fruit strongly 3-lobed, 7 to 10 mm. broad, broader than high, the 

 walls thin but not bursting before the ripening^rtf the seeds. 



This species is p.^obably common in the mountains of 'Chihuahua, Durango, and 



Zacatccas. 



« Nolina Michx. Fl. 1:207. 1803. 



