ae) oe - 
. 7 . ’ 4 
tt 
Foror%a.] AMARYLLIDACE®. 245 
Its native country is not known. A variegated form is often cul- 
tivated in gardens.. D. and P. say that A. Wightii will doubtless 
hold its own as a hedge plant, especially in the drier provinces. The 
fibre is reported as good, but shorter than that of A. sisalana.—Leaves. 
ensiform, linear-lanceolate, very many, 2}-3 ft. long, and up to 3} 
in. at its widest paft, inserted in a compact series on a stout usually 
conspicuous trunk which is partly procumbent or throughout ascend - 
ing, forming a stiff even rosette 3-5 ft. in diam., pale green or often 
tinged with ashy grey; base thin, broadly amplexicaul ; marginal 
prickles rather weak, about ? in. apart, usuaily consisting of a small 
brown cushion carrying a semi-transparent garnet-coloured spine 
which is often sharply recurved parallel to the leaf edge, but ending. 
in a finely barbed hook pointing upwards ; terminal spine about 4 
in. long, pale, slightly decurrent. 
A. decipiens, Baker in Kew Bull. July-Aug. 1893, No. celvii 
D. & P. 1. c. under letter kK, p. 92. 
False Sisal. Cultivated only in Bot. and Horticultural Gardens at 
Calcutta, Saharanpur and Lahore; naturalized in Florida with 
A. sisalana, Perrine; native country not known. Very near to A. 
Ixt, Karwinski, a native of Yucatan.—Leaves fleshy, linear, stiff, 
in section canaliculate, glossy apple-green, 2-4 {ft long, widest just 
below the middle, forming a compact radiating tuft, of which the 
outer leaves are nearly at right angles with the axis, the inner ones 
making gradually an acuter angle ; marginal prickles reddish brown 
small but sharp; terminal spine } in. long or more, not decurrent, 
blackish, very sharp, inclining backwards. 
: 2. FORCRAA, Vent. 
Only one species of this genus has shown any tendency to become 
naturalized in India. This has usually been identified with F. 
gigantea, Vent. but its exact identification with that species has 
not been satisfactorily determined by Drummond and Prain 
for want of specimens of the inflorescence. It is planted and has 
become naturalized within the area of this flora and in most of 
the public gardens of India. It is often grown asa _ hedge plant and 
sometimes on the sides of railway lines. In Southern India it is 
known as the ” Mauritius Hemp.” The fibre is much used in 
N. India, but it is not known to what extent it is in cultivation for 
this purpose. (D. and P. 1. ce. pages 105 and 147.) 
