120 



TREES OF NORTH AMERICA 



May on slender erect ultiniiitely. drooping pedicels I'-IV long, in densely flowered 

 sessile or short-stemmed panicles 12'-18' in length ; perianth l'-2' long, the seg- 

 ments nuited at the base into a short tnbe, thickened and hood-shaped at the apex, 

 those of the outer rank often deeply flushed with purple, but little longer than 

 the less prominently ribbed usually wider and thinner segments of the inner rank; 

 stamens with more or less pilose fllaments nearly as long as the short style. Fruit 

 ripening in August and September, 3'-4' long, about 1^' thick, usually much con- 

 stricted near the middle, abruptly contracted at the apex into a short stout point, 

 dark dull brown or nearly black, with flesh often nearly ^' thick; seeds ^' wide, 

 rather less than ^' thick, with narrow borders to the rim. 



A tree, rarely exceeding 15 in height, with a trunk usually simple or occasionally 

 furnished with short spreading branches, and 6'-8' in diameter, usually sur- 

 rounded by a cluster of shorter more or less spreading stems and often clothed to 

 the ground with living leaves. Bark dark brown and scaly. Wood soft, spongy, 

 light brown. 



Distribution. Southern Nevada and northwestern Arizona across the Mohave 

 Desert to the California coast, extending northward to the neighborhood of Monterey, 

 California, and southward into northern Lower California; common and attaining 

 its largest size on the Mohave Desert, and sometimes ascending arid mountain slopes 

 to elevations of 4000 above the sea. 



5. Yucca Schottii, Engelm. Spanish Dagger. 



Leaves 2i-3 long, about 1^ wide, gradually narrowed upward from the com- 

 paratively thin lustrous red base to above the middle, flat except toward the apex, 



smooth, light yellow-green, with long rigid sharp light red points and thick entire 

 red-brown margins finally separating into short thin brittle threads. Flowers from 

 July to September in erect stalked tomentose panicles; perianth l'-l|' long, the 

 broad oval or oblong-obovate thin segments pubescent on the outer surface toward 

 the base and furnished at the apex with conspicuous clusters of white tomentum; 

 stamens about two thirds as long as the ovary, with filaments pilose at the base, 

 and only slightly enlarged at the apex. Fruit ripening in October and November, 

 obscurely angled, 3^'-4' long, about 1^' thick, often narrowed above the middle, with 



