Tas. 7749. 
DASYLIRION QUADRANGULATUM. 
Native of Mexico, 
Nat. Ord. Lintacrz.—Tribe DrackENnem. 
Genus Dasyuirion, Zuce, (Benth. § Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. iii. p. 780.) 
DasYiirion quadrangulatum; caudice robusto, foliis numerosissimis den- 
sissime confertis 2-pedalibus exterioribus recurvis interioribus erectis 
rigidis tetragonis e basi dilatata ad medium compressis deinde 
zquilateris in apicem pungentem sensim attenuatis tactu asperulis 
marginibus subscaberulis, scapo 5-pedali robusto foliis setaceis elongatis 
inferioribus longioribus deflexis superioribus brevibus erectis ornato, in- 
florescentia paniculata e racemis confertis cylindraceis amentiformibus 
erectis bracteis immixtis constante, bracteis 6-8 poll. longis spathaceis 
ovato-lanceolatis acuminatis pallide brunneis albo-marginatis deciduis, 
racemis 4 poll. longis 1 poll. diam. breviter pedunculatis apice rotundatis, 
floribus densissime confertis imbricatis, pedicellis vix } poll. longis supra 
medium articulatis basi bracteolatis, bracteolis pedicellis brevioribus 
cupuliformibus hyalinis erosis, perianthii segmentis late oblongis apice 
rotundatis, ovario compresso, stigmatibus reniformibus stipitatis, fractu 
1 poll. longo orbiculari-oblongo trigono valde compresso coriaceo inde- 
hiscente basi perianthio induto apice rotundato bilobo stigmatibus sinu 
insertis, alis amplis, nuce parvo 1l-spermo, semine 32 poll. longo ovoideo 
compresso-trigono, testa pallida coriacea nucleo adhzrente. 
D. quadrangulatum, S. Wats. in Proc. Amer. Acad. vol. xiv. (1879) p. 250. 
Gard. Chron. 1900, vol. i. p. 244. 
Agave striata, var. recurva, Zuccarint, e« Baker in Gard. Chron, 1877, vol. ii. 
p- 556. 
This very remarkable plant is a native of the mountains 
of the Tamaulipas State of Mexico, at elevations of seven 
thousand to nine thousand feet, where it was collected by 
Dr. E. Palmer. It was first described in 1879 by Sereno 
Watson. But it must have been discovered and seeds 
sent to Europe before that time, for it was. in cultiva- 
tion in the Royal Gardens, Kew, in 1877, in which year 
Mr. Baker mentions it in the Gardener's Caronicle, under 
the name of Agave striata, var. recurva, of Zuccarini. In 
its native country the trunk is described as three feet to 
eight feet in height, and the flowering stalk five feet to ten 
feet; but the latter attains much larger dimensions in 
Europe, for Mr. Watson mentions a specimen growing in 
the Jardin d’Acclimatation of Hyéres (under the name of 
Xanthorrhzxa hastilis), with a scape and panicle together 
DeEcemsBer Ist, 1900. 
