88 FLOWERS. 
opportunity of witnessing so beautiful a spectacle ir 
of rare occurrence, it is regarded as a great curiosity 
American Aloe. 
A noble speci 
men, probably 86 
or 90 years of age, 
recently bloomed 
in Philadelphia 
About the middle 
of the summer of 
1858, the stem 
made its appear- 
ance, and in six 
weeks’ time it had 
reached the height 
of about twenty 
feet, being seven 
inches in diameter 
at the base, and 
crowned with sey- 
enteen fascicles of 
greenish yellow 
flowers, number- 
ing in all about 
3000, and spreading over a space of nearly eighteen 
feet in circumference. 
In Mexico, the West Indies, and South America, 
where several varieties of this plant are found, it is 
often cultivated by the natives, and its different parts 
appropriated to useful purposes. It may frequently be 
seen planted in long rows, which serve as hedges, and 
form an impervious barrier both to man and beast. 
