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94 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. 
10 to 13 dm. long, at Lake Worth 20 to 25 dm. long, 6 
tv 10 cm. wide, narrowed and thickened above the broad 
base, widest near the middle, acuminate at the apex, 
brighter green than the A. rigida sisalana ; end spine brown, 
10 to 15 mm. long, terete; marginal prickles small, but 
made conspicuous by the somewhat repand margin, very 
sharp, rather close-set and usually recurved; scape 50 to 
60 dm. high, rather loosely branching in upper half; 
flowers greenish-yellow, about 75 mm. long; tube funnel- 
shaped; segments 16 to 17 mm. long, twice as long as 
tube; filaments inserted at the middle of the tube, 33 to 
37 mm. long; ovary oblong; pole plants and suckers very 
abundant.— Kew Bulletin, July and August, 1892, 184; 
Fiber Investigations, Report No. 5 (1893), 33, U. S. Dept. 
Agric.— Plates 57, 58, 59.— Southeastern Florida, Jupiter, 
Biscayne Bay, Lake Worth and other points along the coast 
to Key West. — Specimens examined: — From Mr. C. R. 
Dodge, Southern Florida, 1892, 1895; Mr. C. T. McCarty, 
1895; Mr. H. J. Webber, 1895; leaves and plants grow- 
ing in the Garden. 
This plant was so named by Mr. Baker on account of its 
having been frequently mistaken for the true sisal hemp, 
the A. rigida sisalana. This has caused considerable pecu- 
niary loss to those who have unfortunately planted it 
in place of the other, as its fiber is softer and weaker. 
Though whiter and finer, it is very inferior to the sisalana 
both in quantity and quality. The false sisal may be easily 
distinguished by its tall trunk and bright green radiating 
leaves. The decipiens will grow in the shade but the 
sisalana will not, and while the latter is found near the 
coast, and near to present or past points of cultivation, 
the false sisal is found at a distance from both. In some 
places, Sand’s Key, Lake Worth, etc., the growth of this 
form is very luxuriant; sometimes it rises to the height of 
four meters from the ground, and bears leaves two to two 
and a half meters long, and a mast over six meters high, 
and seven to ten centimeters in diameter. Its juice is very 
