YUCCA AND AGAVE. 
Tli(> followiiio- addition to tlio Cataloone of the plants of Xcvada find Utali in from Dii. Gi.<>i;(;f, 
En<;ki,>!axv as a icsiilt of lii.s recent study of onr liitlierto ill-defined and little understood speeies of 
these genera. 
YUCCA, L. 
rerianth cnp-shaped, of six (whitish) petal-like lance-oval acntish leaves, withering-persistent, 
longer than the six clnh-shaped stamens. Stigmas 3, more or less nniied. Pod oblong or cylindrical, 
somewhat (I-sided. ;i-ecll<>d, the cells incompletely 2-celled ))y a partition from the back. Seeds very 
mimcroiis, liat, linrizontal, in 6 rows, black, with the linear straight or curved eml>ryo diagonal, as long- 
as the alhuiuen. — Stems woody, fibrons, very short or rising into thick colnnniar pahu-like simple or 
branching truid-cs, bearing persistent rigid linear or lanee-liuear mostly sharp-pointed leaves, with smooth, 
rough, or lilanientose edges, and terminated by an ample eompoiind panicle (or randy a spike) of showy 
pendulous dowers, opening wide in the evening and half-closed in the morning. 
1. EU-YUCCA. Filaments club-shaped, obtuse, papillose-pnbescent, mostly shorter than the pistil, 
often spreading or recurved ; anthers oblong or sagittate ; ovary prismatic or snbcylindric, obtuse 
or narrowed into a sort of style ; stigmas elongated, bi-lobed, papillose. 
* Sarcocarpa. Pendulous fruit flesliy and indehiscent ; thick seeds somewhat rugose, with deeply lotted 
(ruminated) albumen. 
1. Y. liACC VTA, Ton-. lh>L M(.i\ Ixiinid. 221. Stems none, or short, or several feet liigli ; leaves very 
thi<'k and rigid, lanee-liuear, narrowed above the broad base, concave, tei'minating in a stout spine, with 
very coarse mar-inal fibres; llowers paiiieled ; petals rhombic-ovate (1^-1^' long) or linear-lanceolate, 
(sometimes over 3' long;) ovary attenuate into a style; stigmas short; fruit ovate or cylindric, 
long-ro.strate.— From New ]\[exi( and S. ( Vlorado, through S. Utah, to Arizona, California and Mexico. 
Northward a low plant, it becomes a tree farther south ; leaves 1^-2° long, 1^-2' wide. Tlie edible sweet 
fruit are often <'allcd "Dates;"' seeds variable in size, nsuallv the largest in tlie genus, .^)-6" wide, 1^-1^" 
thiek. 
* * Clistocarpa. Fruit indehiscent, at last dry; seeds thickish, smooth, with the albunmn entire. 
2. Y. iJKEViroi.iA, Eng. (Y. Dracoiiis, Yar. arhore.scct>>i, Torr. Bot. IVldpp., Fac. n. E. Siirv. 4. 147.) 
Tree-like, at last much branched ; the short narrow leaves crowded at the end of the branches, thick, 
very rigid, stout and sharp-pointed, not narrowed above the broad base, scrruhite on the margin ; panicle 
sessile at the eml of the braiu hes; fruit large, 4' long, ovate, pointed.— Deserts of S. Utah, through 
Arizona, to S. IL California wheic it forms entire forests on tlie desert plateaus at 2-4,000 feet altitude. 
Often 20-30^ high and t--i in dianu ter, with a thick ron.nh bark ; leaves 4-6' or in younger specimens 
10- 12' long, wide, stiller ami stouter pointed than any other in the genus. Tlie flower when known 
may make it ne< essar\ to remove it from $ Euyucca. 
- * Cha,uHvyi>a. Erect fruit dry, septicidally 3-Talved from the apex, tlie valves at last again 
divided at tij. : seed very thin, smooth, with an entire albumen. 
3. Y ax.;t-stii-.,i.ia, Pursh. Stems none or s1,ort ; leav<"s narrowly linear, scarcely narrowed above 
the broad bas.-, r.gul. spm y-poiuted, n<>ar]y Hat above, convex below, with verv slender marginal fibres, 
11- 2riong; llowers spike<l ; petals broad-ovate, H-lf long : stigums half as h)ng as the ovarv sessile 
erect ; capsule cylindric-ovate, thick, obt.ise, short-pointed; seed large, (J^7" in diameter,) with a wide 
margin. ' 
11 ilT' '"^^^''"-^ l''g^> ; fl^^exs in largo panicles; petals narrow lanceolate, 
li-l|' long. ' 
Western plains to Texas, Colorado, New Mexico and into E'tah ; the variety in Central Arizona and 
imrthward to ,he .orders of Utah. A very variable plant, which eastward toward the Mississippi and 
the Gulf has broader, shorter, and more flaccid leaves, (F. stncta, Sims ?,) but is always recognized by the 
thick never constricted obtuse capsule and the large broad-margined seed, 5-7" wide. Both forms here 
