ENGELMANN — NOTES ON THE GENUS YUCCA. 35 



perigonii segmentis ovatis ; staminibus ovarium prismaticum 

 stigtnatibus sessilibus brevibus crassis rectis coronatum nunc 

 aequantibus demum patulis ; bacca prismatica six-angulari acuti- 

 uscula. 



Forma gemiina : simplex vel parce ramosa ; foliis crassis 

 rigidissimis mucrone valido brunneo pungentibus. — T. aloifolia, 

 Lin. et auct. plur. T. Draconis? Elliott, Bot. I. 401. 



Var. /?. Draconis: elatior, subsimplex ; foliis laxioribus saepius 

 demum reflexis mucrone debiliore pungentibus. — T. Draconis, 

 Lin. 



Var. y. conspicua : e basi ramosa ; foliis laxioribus supra 

 lucidis in mucronem debiliorem virescentem excurrentibus. — K 

 conspicua, Haw. Suppl. pi. succ. 32. 



I have seen native flowering and fruiting specimens of the 

 genuine plant only from South Carolina, whence Dr. Mellichamp 

 has abundantly supplied fresh and dried material, and from Flor- 

 ida ; it there grows always near the coast, often, and apparently 

 most luxuriantly, under the direct influence of salt-water ; it ex- 

 tends to North Carolina and to the eastern gulf States ; it is also 

 credited to the West Indies and to the eastern coast of Mexico ; but 

 on the shores of Louisiana and Texas it seems to be unknown. Var. 

 (} is said to be a native of South Carolina ; var. y was described 

 from plants cultivated in English gardens ; its native country is 

 unknown ; my description is taken from several magnificent 

 specimens in the botanic garden of Naples, probably correctly 

 named. 



On the coast of South Carolina T. aloifolia grows 6-8 or very 

 rarely 10-12 feet high, mostly simple, sometimes, in favorable 

 localities, with a few, often three, branches ; trunk seldom more 

 than 4 or 5, at most 6 inches in diameter, only the lowest part of 

 the oldest ones covered with a rough dark brown bark ; higher 

 up the marks of the leaf-bases are seen, while the upper part is 

 coated with the withered and dependent leaves themselves, per- 

 sistent for years ; the rigid foliage forms dense heads, the leaves, 

 in ^-| or even higher orders, are narrowest above the very broad 

 base, and widest about the middle. I find them in the native 

 specimens usually 1S-24 inches long, and ii-2 inches wide; 

 grown in the shade, they reach a length of 24-32 inches by 1 £ 

 inches in width ; under the direct influence of salt-water on the 

 sandy beaches of the islands near Charleston they have been 



