22 AGASTACHYS 



Agastachys R. Br. Proteaceae (i). i Tasmania. 



Agasyllis Sprang. (Siler Scop. p.p. BH.}. Umbellif. (in. 6). 2 

 E. Medit. 



Agatea A. Gray (Agation Brongn. BH.}. Violaceae. 3 Fiji, New Cal. 



Agathaea Cass. = Felicia Cass. p.p. (Compos.). 



Agathelpis Choisy. Scrophulariaceae (n. 7). [Selagin. BH.~\ 6 S. Afr. 



Agathis Salish. (Damniara Lam.). Coniferae (Pinaceae i ; see C. for 

 gen. char.). 4 Malaya to N.Z. Evergr. dioec. trees; the fr. takes 

 two years to ripen. Several give copals or animes, used for varnish, 

 &c. A. Damniara Rich. (D. orimtalis Lamb., Malay and Phil. Is.), 

 Manila copal. A. anst rails Steud. (Austr. , N.Z., Kauri or Cowrie 

 pine), kauri-copal; the best pieces are dug out of the soil, often far 

 from trees now living. (Wiesner, Die Rohstoffe, 2nd ed. pp. 253, 264.) 



Agathophora Bunge (Halogeton p.p. BH.}. Chenopod. (B). i N. Afr., 

 Arabia. 



Agathophyllum Juss. = Ravensara Sonner. (Laurac.). 



Agathosma Willd. Rutaceae (i). 100 S. Afr. Cult. orn. fl. 



Agati Adans. = Sesbania Scop. p.p. (Legum.). 



Agation Brongn. (Agatea A. Gray, EP.). Violaceae. 3 Fiji, New Cal. 



Agauria Hook. f. Ericaceae (n). 5 trop. Afr., Madag. 



Agave L. Amaryllidaceae (n). 100 trop. Am. and S.U.S., incl. A. 

 americana Linn. (Century plant, Maguey, American aloe). The short 

 stem grows in thickness like Yucca, bearing a rosette of large fleshy 1. 

 coated with wax; only 2 or 3 1. form in a year. During 5 to 60 or 

 perhaps 100 years (hence the name), depending on climate, richness 

 of soil, &c. , the plant is veg. , and stores up in the 1. an enormous 

 mass of reserves. At length it flowers, a gigantic term. infl. coming 

 rapidly out, sometimes reaching 20 feet, and bearing many fls. When 

 the fr. is ripe the pi. dies. Veg. repr. in two ways by suckers from 

 base of stem, and by formation of bulbils in place of many fls. 



The rush of sap to so large and so rapidly developed an infl. is 

 very great ; the Mexicans cut off the young fl. head and collect the 

 sap. As much as rooo litres are said to be given by one plant. 

 The fermented juice (pulque) is a national drink; from it they distil 

 a spirit called mescal (cf. Cocos). Many yield useful fibres. The best 

 are sisal hemp and henequen, given by A. sisalana Perrine, and A. 

 fourcroydes Lem., cultivated in Yucatan, the Bahamas, India, &c. 

 Others yield fibres variously known as pita, istle, ixtle, lechuguilla, 

 keratto, &c. See Rep. Miss. Bol. Gdn. 1896, p. 47 ; Kew Bull. 1892, 

 p. 21, Tropeiipfl. 1899, p. 337; Dodge, Useful Fiber Plants (Bull. 

 U.S. Dpt. Agr.), &c. 



Agdestis Mo9- et Sesse. Phytolaccaceae. i Mexico, Guatemala. 



Agelaea Soland. Connaraceae. 20 palaeotrop. 



Agents, effecting seed-dispersal, see Seed -dispersal ; effecting pollination, 

 see Pollination, &c. 



Ageratella A. Gray. Compositae (2). 2 Mex. 



Ageratina O. Hofifm. Compositae (i). 2 trop. Afr. 



Ageratum L. Compositae (2). 40 trop. all but one Amer. A. cony- 

 zoides L. (goatweed), the commonest weed in Ceylon. 



Agglomerate, collected into a head. 



Agglutinate, glued together. 



