AGAVE. 177 



amana Lemaire (smaller than typical Scolymiis), A. Vcrscliaffcltii Lemaire in 

 111. Hort. t. 564, Baker in SauncL lief. Bot. t. 306, A. Sanndersii Hook, in Bot. 

 Mag. t. 5493 (leaves about a foot long ; teeth very large), A. crenata Jacobi, A. 

 Mescal K. Koch (less glaucous than the type), and A. auricantha Hort. (leaves 

 thinner and more numerous than in the type, moderately glaucous, with 

 smaller prickles). A. VcrschaffcUii mediopicta Hort. De Smet is a form with 

 variegated leaves. A plant which, so far as leaf goes, might be a form of 

 Scolijmus, flowered at Kew in 1887 with panicle branches quite sui^pressed, thus 

 furnishing a link of transition between the subgenera Etiagave and Littaa. 



45. A. [FAiagave] potatoeum Zuccar. in Nova Acta xvi. 2. 674. — 

 Ac aule scent. Leaves about 20 in a rosette, oblong-spatlmlate, 

 2-2^ ft. long, 7-9 in. broad at the middle, narrowed to 4-5 in. 

 above the base, a dull glaucous green, the face slightly concave, 

 the slightly decurrent pungent end-spine li~2 in. long, the horny 

 deltoid-cuspidate prickles |~^ m. long, with the edge repand 

 between them. Peduncle 10-12 ft. long, including the thyrsoid 

 panicle, which is 4-5 ft. long. Flowers 3 in. long ; tube short ; 

 segments greenish yellow, an inch long. Stamens twice as long as 

 the segments. 



Hab. Mexico, introduced into cultivation about 1830. Doubtfully distinct 

 specifically from A. Scolymus. 



46. A. oLiGOPHYLLA Baker in Gard. Chron. 1878, 492. J. 

 2)aiicifolia Baker non Todaro. — Acaulescent, densely csespitose and 

 soboliferous. Leaves 6-8 in a rosette, lanceolate, 3-4 in. long, 

 |~| in. broad, slightly glaucescent, broadly channelled all down the 

 face, narrowed gradually to a weak end-sx)ine \-\ in. long, the 

 prickles lanceolate, horny, decurved, the central ones ^ in. long, the 

 upper and lower smaller. Inflorescence unknown. 



Hab. Probably Mexico. Described from a plant in the possession of Mr. 

 Justus Corderoy, of Blewbury, near Didcot, in 1878. 



47. A. (LittcBo) uTAHENsis Engelm. Notes, 20. — Acaulescent. 

 Leaves ensiform, f-l ft. long, 12-21 lines broad, thick, glaucous, 

 rigid, the pungent end-spine an inch long, the deltoid teeth ^— ^ in. 

 long, white with a darker base. Peduncle 5-7 ft. long including 

 the 1-2 ft. spike. Flowers about an inch long ; tube very short ; 

 segments ^ in. long. Stamens little exserted. Capsule oblong, an 

 inch long. 



Hab. Southern Utah and Arizona. Introduced into cultivation about 

 1880. This reaches the farthest north of all Agaves. 



48. A. (Littaa) maceacantha Zuccar. in Nova Acta xvi. 2, 676 ; 

 Baker in Gard. Chron. 1877, ii. tab. 27. A. jiavescens Salmdyck. 

 A. Bessereriana Jacobi ; Bot. Mag. t. 5940. — Acaulescent or shortly 

 caulescent. Leaves 30-50 in a rosette, lanceolate, ^1 ft. long, 

 1-1| in. broad above the middle, very rigid, very glaucous, the face 

 rather turgid in the lower half, the end-spine nearly black, very 

 pungent, ^—f in. long, the purplish-black small subdeltoid- 

 cuspidate prickles i-i in. long. Peduncle 2-3 ft. long. Flowers 

 10-12 in a lax raceme, all solitary on ascending pedicels i— | in. 

 long. Perianth 2 in. long ; segments greenish, three times as long 

 as the tube. Stamens exserted about half an inch. 



Hab. Mountains of Central Mexico, ascending to 5000 — 6000 ft. Intro- 

 duced into cultivation about 1830. Flowered with Mr. Saunders in the spring 

 of 1871. I cannot separate specifically A. suhfalcata and linearis Jacobi. 



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