88 HEXANDRIA. 



their native country, seeds were sown frequently, the 

 varieties might be as numerous as those of apples and 

 pears with us. The variety, called the Queen Pine, 

 is the most common in Europe ; but the sugar-loaf 

 Pine is preferable being, larger and better flavoured. 



American Aloe, Agave Americana, is of this 

 Class and Order. This plant was first known to blos- 

 som in England, in the year 1/2Q, in the garden of a 

 Mr. Cowell, at Hoxton (near London) ; another blos- 

 somed in 173/, at Eaton Hall, in Cheshire, of which 

 there is a print, and by the inscription on it, the stem- 

 bud appeared on the 15th of June, and grew five inches 

 a day for some weeks ; the flower branches were per- 

 fected in twelve weeks, and then ceased to grow for a 

 month, whilst the buds were forming. It produced 

 1050 flowers One that blossomed in Ley den, in 1 76O, 

 produced more than 4000 flowers. 



It is a common opinion that this Aloe blossoms 

 only once in a hundred years ; but this is a vulgar 

 error. The time of its flowering depends on its 

 growth, so that in hot countries, where it grows 

 fast and expands many leaves every season, it will 

 blossom in a few years; but in colder climates, where 

 the growth is slow, it will be much longer before its 

 stem shoots up : when the stem is vigorous, it usually 

 grows to more than twenty feet in height : in the 

 king of Prussia's garden one grew to forty feet, the 

 highest of which there is any account. 



