Tab. 5716. 



agave dasylibioides. 

 Dasylirion-like Agave. 



Nat. Ord. Amakyilideji. — Hexandria Moistogynia. 

 Gen. Char. {Fide supra, Tab. 5333.) 



Agate dasylirioides ; acaulis, foliis uumerosissimis coriaceis auguste ensi- 

 formibus pateuti-recurvis longe attenuato-acuminatis marginibus pec- 

 tinatim serrulatis utrinque convexiusculis pallide glauco-viridibus 

 striolatis, scapo longissimo, parte nudo suberecto bracteis uumerosis- 

 simis falcato-secundis crinito, parte florifero elongato dependente, spiea 

 densissima cylindrica, floribus 2-nis viridibus, perianthio subcampanu- 

 iato 6-lobo, lobis brevibus obtusis, stamiuibus strietis periantbio cum 

 ovario a3quilougis, antheris brunneis. 



Agave dasylirioides. Jaqbbi et Bouche in Hamburg Gartcnzeit. v. 21. p. 

 314, et v. 22. p. 269. 



The noble Agave here figured has been a very conspicu- 

 ous plant in the conservatory of the Kegent's Park Botanic 

 Gardens, where it has flowered three times, on each occasion 

 presenting the same remarkable appearance that our draw- 

 ing conveys. Mr. Sowerby informs me that it was raised 

 from a packet of seeds sent from Mexico about twenty-five 

 years ago, amongst which seeds were also those of the Fovr- 

 croija longcew, figured in this Magazine (Tab. 5519). This 

 Agave first flowered in about 1860, and again in 1864, and 

 lastly in January of the present year; on each occasion the 

 old head died away, and a new one formed at its base. For 

 the reduced drawing of the entire plant here given, I am in- 

 debted to a lady friend of Mr. Sowerby's. The leaves were 

 three and a half to four feet long, the flower-stem ten feet 

 and a half high, and the crowded sickle-shaped, one-sided 

 bracts on which produced a no less remarkable appearance 

 than the pendulous habit of the floriferous parts. My 

 authority for the specific name of <la.y/i 'irioiflcs is General 

 Jacobi, who says that the same species is cultivated in the 

 Vienna Botanic Garden. Koch, however, considers it the 



Ji i.v 1st. 1868. 



