156 



MONOCOTYLEDONS 



Fig. 143. — The 



American Aloe 



(Agave americana) 



^L of nat. size. 



i^-''^^^^; 



account of its thorny leaves. 

 Its growth is very slow. It 

 requires about ten lo fifteen 

 years until it is fully grown. 

 But then a high scape with 

 hundreds of pale, yellow 

 flowers grows suddenly out of 

 the leaf-rosette, to the height 

 of ten to twenty-five feet. 

 After the seeds are ripe, the 

 whole plant dies oft". Ere 

 this event takes place, how- 

 ever, numerous shoots issue, 

 like offspring, all round the 

 root-stock. The Agave was 

 imported into India from 

 America 

 where it in- 

 habits the dry 

 deserts of the 

 tropical and 

 subtropical 

 zone. By its 

 succulent 

 leaves, which 

 are covered 

 by a leathery 

 epidermis, it 

 is well suit- 

 J ed for such 

 climates 

 (c m [) a r e 

 Cactus, page 

 57). — A very 

 strong tough 

 iibre is ob- 

 tained from 

 the leaves. 



