much of the habits of very narrow-leaved Yuccas, the foliage 
generally terminated with a pencil or brush of loose parallel 
rather rigid fibres, now and then sending up a solitary central 
stem of very small Asparagineous dicecious flowers, of which Zue- 
carini, in 1842, constituted a genus, to which he gave the not 
very appropriate name of Dasylirivm (thick or succulent Lily). 
Some well-grown species adorn the south end of the long succu- 
lent-house of the Royal Gardens; and, probably on account 0 
the unusually warm and sunny summer, two of the species threw 
up their noble flower-stalks, the present one so tall, that the 
flowering portion soon came in contact with the loftiest part of 
this house, and it had to be removed into a taller one to perfect 
its flowering. The genus being (it is stated) always dicecious, 
we have in the present instance only the female plant. All the 
kinds (and six are described, though imperfectly so in most 
cases) are considered to be natives of Mexico, and in their native 
mountains must form, along with Cactuses, a remarkable feature 
in the scenery. Our plants of this were received from Mr. Rep- 
per, of Real del Monte, through the kindness of the Company 
bearing that name. 
Descr. Stem erect, or nearly so; in the individual under con- 
sideration about two feet high, and a foot at least or a foot and 
a half in girth, clothed with the broad, scale-like, withered bases 
of former years, and crowned by a graceful tuft of slender, plia- 
ble, but firm and coriaceous /eaves, from three to four feet in 
length, the older and lower ones spreading and recurved, the 
younger and upper ones erect; all, from a broad base, rather 
suddenly linear-subulate, terminated by a harsh tuft or pencil 
of coarse fibres, nearly plane, that is, only slightly channelled on 
the upper surface, of an ordinary rather yellowish-green colour, 
finely striated on both sides, of a firm coriaceous texture, but — 
with a graceful downward curvature of the old and lower leaves, — 
the younger and terminal ones erect ; the margins cartilaginous, — 
white, and pellucid, cut into very fine sharp serratures, the teeth _ 
sometimes double, and beset with strong subulate spines, at dis- 
tances of about half an inch, more or less, a line long, curved up- 
wards, and of a pale-brown colour, the younger ones colourless. 
Peduncle terminal, solitary, at first rismg up somewhat like a head 
of asparagus, but clothed with erect, imbricated, young leaves ; 
then rapidly increases in size, and attains a height, including the 
flowers, of fifteen and sixteen feet, the lower part partially clothed 
with small leaves, which gradually pass upwards into subulate 
_ bracteas, and among the spikelets they are large, broad, mem- 
~ branaceous, ovate, sharply acuminated, brownish-green bracts, 
as long as or longer than the spikelets. Spike (female) three 
to four feet long, cylindrical, but slightly acuminated, loaded 
with the numerous, erect, bracteated spikelets, or more properly 
