WOOTON AND STANDLEY—FLORA OF NEW MEXICO, 145 
.TYPE LocaLity: Copper Mines, New Mexico. 
Rance: New Mexico and Arizona, southward into Mexico. 
New Mexico: San Ignacio; Hop Canyon; Las Vegas Mountains; Mogollon Moun- 
tains; Burro Mountains; Black Range; White and Sacramento mountains. Moun- 
tains, in the Transition Zone. 
Order 14. AMARYLLIDALES. 
KEY TO THE FAMILIES. 
Stamens 6; leaves not 2-ranked ................ 26. AMARYLLIDACEAE (p. 145). 
Stamens 3; leaves 2-ranked ...........---...-- 27. IRIDACEAE (p. 147). 
26. AMARYLLIDACEAE. Amaryllis Family. 
Perennials with bulbs or corms or sometimes with fibrous roots; leaves basal; flowers 
regular or irregular, solitary or corymbose; andrcecium of 6 stamens inserted on an 
epigynous disk or at the throat of the tube opposite the sepals and petals; ovary inferior, 
3-celled; styles united; fruit a 3-celled capsule or berry. 
KEY TO THE GENERA. 
« 
Leaves spiny-toothed and spine-tipped; plants with elon- 
~ gated caudices . 2.2.22... eee eee eee eee eee eee 1. AGAVE (p. 145). 
Leaves not spiny-toothed; plants with bulbs............... 2. ATamosco (p. 147). 
1. AGAVE L. CENTURY PLANT. 
Long-lived perennials with a cluster of numerous thick fleshy basal leaves and a 
tall flower stalk, this either nearly spicate or paniculate and with numerous thick 
divergent branches; perianth persistent, tubular-funnelform, parted into numerous 
narrow, nearly equal divisions; anthers linear, versatile; fruit an oblong coriaceous 
3-celled capsule containing numerous flat black seeds. 
Agave americana is an introduced species very common in cultivation in the southern 
part of the State. Itis the common ‘‘maguey” of the Mexicans, who use the sap taken 
from the developing flower stalk for making ‘‘pulque,’’ ‘‘ mescal,’’ and ‘‘ tequila.”’ It 
is not cultivated far north of Las Cruces, and even here the leaves are sometimes 
frosted in the winter and rarely the whole plant killed. 
KEY TO THE SPECIES. 
Leaves not spiny-margined, filiferous, 1 cm. broad or less, taper- 
ing upward. .....--..---- 2-2 eee eee eee ees 1. A. schottir. 
Leaves bearing hooked spines along the margins, not filiferous, 
4 cm. wide or more, generally broadest about the middle. 
Leaves few, 10 to 15, 20 to 30 cm. long, yellowish green; 
panicle with very short branches, spikelike in appear- 
ANCE... - eee eee ee eee eee ee eee eee eens 2. A. lechuguilla. 
Leaves more numerous, 30 or more, 20 to 100 cm. long, deep 
green or bluish green, glaucous; panicles with spread- 
ing longer branches. 
Stamens inserted near the middle of the corolla tube; 
leaves deep green, 5 to 12 cm. wide, generally 40 
to 60 cm. long, sometimes much longer........... 3. A. palmert. 
52576°—15——10 
