AGAVES OF THE UNITED STATES. 81 
curved inward with an acuminate effect, lower ones spread- 
ing, broader, scarcely or slightly tapering at apex; leaves 
oblong-lanceolate to spatulate or broadly ovate, 25 to 40 
or 60 cm. long, 8 to 17 or 25 cm. broad, 25 to 40 mm. or 
more thick at cushion above base, rigid, thick, slightly nar- 
rowed above the broad clasping base, convex on lower side, 
flat on upper side in lower half, and concave in upper half, 
color from cinereous, glaucous, blue-green to grass-green ; 
terminal spine stout, 15 to 25 mm. long, sometimes much 
longer, purplish-black or brown, often grayish in age, 
flattened and channeled above; horny margin purplish or 
brown turning gray, more or less decurrent, sometimes 
extending to base of leaf; prickles 1 to 2 cm. apart, the 
lower ones gradually smaller, more close-set and deflexed ; 
scape stout, 25 to 50 dm. (or even 9 to 12 m.) high, bearing 
numerous large herbaceous bracts, which taper very nar- 
rowly and end in a sharp point; panicle a meter or more 
long, one-third as wide in the middle; branches horizontal 
or somewhat ascending, stout, flattened horizontally ; 
flowers campanulate spreading, yellow or greenish or 
brownish-yellow, crowded on short pedicels, 35 to 60 mm. 
long; segments 15 to 21 mm. long; filaments inserted a 
very little below cutting of lobes, 35 to 42 mm. long; 
anthers 14 to 15 mm. long; capsules stout and broad, 3 to 
5 cm. long, about half as broad. Nectar abundant. Fra- 
grance pleasant. Propagation by offsets and suckers. 
A. applanata is described as a Mexican species. So far 
as I have been able to ascertain, Dr. Trelease is the only 
one who has alluded to it as occurring within our borders.* 
A species in the mountains of Western Texas is appar- 
ently the same as the form common in European and 
American greenhouses under this name. The Texan plant 
is variable, but many specimens show a resemblance to Dr. 
Engelmann’s A. Parryi which indicates a close relationship. 
There also seem to be many grades intermediate between 
* Report of Missouri Botanical Garden, iv. 191. 
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