38 



The Dictionary of Gardening, 



A^athosma — coniimied. 

 A. hlspida (rongh-lKiirciI). /. violet, on terminal sub-umbellate 

 heads ; peilieels iinil sepals puliescent ; petals quite smooth. May. 

 I. crowded, linear, tri^'onal, blunt, s]>reading, hispid, keeled, and 

 two-furrowed beneath, h. 1ft. to 2ft. 1786. 

 A. imbricata (imbricati^d). jl. pale jmrple. in terminal sub-capi- 

 tate heads ; petals witli a roundish limb ; sepals smoothish ; 

 pedicels pubescent. April. I. imbricate, crowded, ovate, acumi- 

 nated, dotted, fringed, h. 1ft. to 2ft. 1774. 

 A. orbicularis (round-leaved). Jl. white, on terminal sub-umbel- 

 late heads ; stamens twice as long as the corolla ; pedicels pubes- 

 cent. April. I. scattered, spreadiuR, orbicular, ovate, or reni- 

 form, sniooth, reflexed, sujall, thiokish, without any dots 

 beneath ; branches villous. A. 1ft. to 2ft. 1790. 

 A. prollfera (proliferous). Jl. white, on terminal sub-umbellate 

 heads ; sepals smooth ; pedicels somewhat fastigiate, pubescent. 

 April. i. spreading, lanceolate, cuspidate ; keel and edges 

 fringed, dotted; branches whorled, proliferous, h. 1ft. to 3ft. 

 1790. 

 A. pubesoens (downy). /. white ; umbels terminal ; peduncles 

 and sepals villous. April. I. lanceolate, trigonal, pointless, with 

 margins and rib ciliated, h. 1ft. to 2ft. 1798. 

 A. rugosa (coarsely-wrinkled). Jl. white, on terminal sub-umbel- 

 late heads ; sepals pubescent ; pedicels capillary, clothed mth 

 glandular hairs. April. (. spreading, oblong or ovate, blunt, 

 keeled, wrinkled, villous beneath, reflexed. h. Itt. to 2ft. 1790. 

 A. vestita (clothed). Jl. lilac, on terminal sub-capitate heads; 

 pedicels quite smooth. May. (. closely imbricated, ovate, acumi- 

 nated, keeled, fringed, h. 1ft. to 2ft. 1821. 

 AGATHYBSUS. See lUiilgredium. 

 AGATI (its Sanscrit name). Ukd. LeguminosiB. Orna- 

 mental stove trees from India, with lanceolate stipulas, 

 abruptly-pinnate leaves, having- many pairs of leaflets. 

 Flowers large, few, racemose. Legumes l^t- long. A 

 mixtuie of loam, peat, and sand is most suitable. Young 

 cuttings will root in a pot of sand, with a hand glass over 

 them, placed in heat. 



A. coccinea (scarlet).* Jl. red, rather smaller than the next 

 species. Legumes rather terete. (. leaflets powdery. July. h. 20ft. 

 to 30ft. 1768. 

 A. grandlflora (large-flowered). Jl. rosy red. July. Legumes 

 evidently compressed. I. leaflets glabrous, h. lift, to 26ft. 1768. 

 A. g. flore-albo (white flowered), y!. white, double. N.Australia, 

 1869. 



AGAVE (from agauos, admirable ; referring to the 

 stately form in which some of them flower). Okd. Amarylli- 

 dacece. Flower-scape taU, proceeding from the centre of the 

 rosette of leaves; perianth funnel-shaped, six-parted. Leaves 

 large, fleshy, tufted. Mr. B. S. Williams describes them as 

 follows : " They are noble, massive-growing plants, and form 

 magnificent ornaments in the greenhouse or conservatory; 

 whilst, from their slow growth, they do not rapidly get too 

 large, even for a small greenhouse. Indeed, some of the 

 real gems of this genus are neat, compact-growing pl.ants, 

 seldom exceeding 2ft. in height. Besides being fine orna- 

 mental plants for indoor decoration, the larger growing 

 kinds are irnquestionably the finest objects for the embel- 

 lishment of terrace-walks, or surmounting flights of steps 

 in the open air during the summer season, and also for 

 plunging in rockwork, or about any rustic nooks in the 

 pleasure-grounds, as, in such situations, they are quite in 

 keeping, and thrive admirably. As is well known, they 

 attain maturity very slowly ; but when this condition is 

 reached, the plant sends up a flower spike, and, after 

 perfecting this, dies." A. Sartorii, and a few others are, 

 laowever, exceptional, and go on flowering year after year. 

 It is certainly fallacious to suppose it takes them a hundred 

 years to flower. Agaves succeed well potted in good 

 loam and river sand, to which may be added a little peat and 

 leaf mould for some of the smaUer-growing kinds. The 

 drainage should be good, as they enjoy a liberal supply 

 of water during the summer season, but during winter 

 considerably less wiU be required. They can be increased 

 by suckers when these are to be obtained, and also by 

 seeds, to secui'e the production of which, in the species 

 that do not yield suckers, the flowers should be care- 

 fully impregnated. In the following descriptive list 

 of species, only those of horticultural value are men- 

 tioned, some of which are stUl rare ; and in describing 

 them wo have availed ourselves of Mr. J. G. Baker's 



A^ave — cvntinued. 

 excellent monograph, which appeared in the columns 

 of the Gardener's Chronicle. Many are omitted, not 

 from any deficiency in horticultural beauty, but because, 

 in several instances, only one plant of a species is kno\vn to 

 exist in cultivation, and such cannot, therefore, hope to 

 become in general cultivation for many years hence. 

 A. albicans (whitened). Probably a variety of .1. micrantha. 



FiQ 45 Arv\E Americana 



A. amerlcana (American).* /. yellowish green, 2in. to 34!n. long; 

 in very dense globose clusters, on pedicels iin. to iin. long; 

 scape, including the thyrsoid (lanicle, 24ft. to 36ft. August. I. 

 usually thirty to forty, sometimes more, in a rosette, oblanceo- 

 latespathulate, 3ft. to 6ft. long, 6in. to 9in. broad above the 

 middle, glaucous gi-een, more or less concave all down the face, 

 the outer leaves recurved, the dark brown pungent point lin. to 

 2in. long ; jn-ickles brown tipped, ;\in. to Jin. long. S. America, 

 1640. See Fig. 45. 



A. a. mexlcana (Mexican). A variety much shorter in the leaves 

 than the species, of which it may be regarded as one of the many 

 small forms. 



A. a. plcta (painted).* I. 2ft. to 3ft. long, about 4in. wide, lower 

 ones recurved, upper ones ei-ect, moderately thick, rich golden 

 yeUow on both sides, bordered with dark gieen. A very splendid 

 variety. 8y.n. A. oniala. 



A. a* variegata (viiriegated). I. 6ft. or more in length, 6in. or 

 Sin. wide, ilark green in the centre, broadly margined with rich 

 yellow. A very desirable variety. 



A. amcena 0*b'asing). Referred to A. Sfohpnus. 



A. amurensis (Anuu- River). .Synonymous with A. icijlacaiilha. 



A. applanata (plano-convex-leaved), ^.unknown. I. twenty to 

 forty in a dense sessile rosette, reaching a couple of feet in 

 diameter, oblong sjiathulate. Bin. to 12in. long, 2in. to 3iiu. 

 broad, the lowtr half of the face flat, the upper half concave, 

 suddenly teruiinating in a pungent brown .spine above lin. long, 

 blue-gi'een bordered with brown ; prickles Jin. to Jin. long, bright 

 brown. Mexico, 1869. 



