Reigate, who has kindly communicated his own drawings, 
notes, and analysis for insertion in the Magazine; its native 
country is unknown, but probably Mexico. It was procured 
from Belgium under the name of 4. Besseriana hystrix, and 
agrees with Jacobi’s description in every detail. 
Descr. Stemless. Leaves thirty to forty in a dense rosette, 
five to six inches long, two thirds to three-quarters of an 
inch broad about the middle, narrowly elliptic-lanceolate, 
gradually contracted into a rigid brown spine an inch 
long, contracted at the base, and suddenly dilated into a 
broad semilunar sheath, upper surface slightly convex 
except towards the tip, under very convex; colour pale 
glaucous-green; marginal spines one-twelfth to one-tenth of an 
inch, upeurved, distant, brown. Scape two feet three inches 
high, stout, stiff, sparsely bracteate; lower bracts erect, one 
inch long, subulate from a lanceolate base, upper triangular, 
acute, small; all much narrower at their base than the scape. 
Flowers about ten, two to two and half inches long excluding 
the large anthers, solitary or geminate ; peduncle half an inch 
long, with two or three minute bracteoles, and a triangular basal 
bract. Perianth-tube one and a half inches long, terete, narrowly 
urceolate, 6-furrowed at the top, dark green; lobes erect, 
half an inch long, narrowly tongue-shaded, obtuse, convex, con- 
tracted at their insertion; green on both surfaces, tinged 
with brown towards the tips. Fi/aments yellow-green, subulate, 
erect, rather longer than the perianth-lobes ; anthers linear, 
rather shorter than the filaments, orange-yellow.—J. D. H. 
Fig. 1. Whole plant:—reduced ; 2, leaf and 3, inflorescence:—of the 
natural size. 
