AGAVE. 181 



9-10 in. long, 3 in. broad cabovo the middle, narrowed to 2 in. 

 above the base, nearly flat on the face, green, scarcely at all 

 glaucous, tipped with a strong brown end-spine an inch long, 

 margined with close very small deltoid prickles, which are red- 

 brown when young and nearly black when old. Inflorescence 

 unknown. 



Hab. Probably Mexico. Described from the Saunders collection at 

 Reigate, in 1872. 



63. A. [Littma) macrantha Todaro, Hort. Bot. Panorm. ii. 11, t. 

 27. — Acaulescent. Leaves 40 — 50, oblong-spathulate, 5-6 in. 

 broad at the middle, 2-3 in. above the base, dull glaucous green, 

 the face concave, the pungent end-spine an inch long, the young 

 leaves thinly edged with brown, the teeth small, deltoid-cuspidate, 

 moderately close. Peduncle with dense spike 4-5 ft. long. Flowers 

 3 in. long ; tube funnel-shaped, f in. long. Stamens about three 

 times the length of the segments. 



Hab. Probably Mexico. Flowered with Dr. Todaro at the Palermo 

 Botanic Garden, in 1879. 



64. A. [Littaa) Botterh Baker in Bot. Mag. t. 6248 ; Gard. 

 Chron. 1877, ii. fig. 54. — Acaulescent. Leaves about 50 in a 

 rosette, oblong-spathulate, 2 ft. long, 6 in. broad above the middle, 

 narrowed to 4-4|- in. above the base, pale green, hardly at all 

 glaucous, the pungent end-spine ^ in. long, the crowded nearly 

 black deltoid teeth not more than ^ in. long. Peduncle with dense 

 2-3 ft. spike 7-8 ft. long. Flowers 2^ in. long ; tube ^-^ in. long. 

 Stamens more than twice as long as the segments. 



Hab. Mexico. Sent by Botteri by Mr. Wilson Saunders. Flowered with 

 Mr. J. T. Peacock, in the spring of 1875. 



65. A. {Euagave) rigida Miller, Gard. Diet. No. 8 ; Engelm. 

 Notes, 28. A. Ixtli Karw. A. Karwinskii Zuccar. A. ixtlioides 

 Hook, in Bot. Mag. t. 5893. Fourcroya rigida Haw. — Acaulescent 

 or shortly caulescent. Leaves 30-40 in a rosette, ensiform, 1^-2 ft. 

 long, 1^-2 in. broad at the middle, narrowed to an inch above the 

 base, rigidly erecto-patent, glaucous, the pungent end-spine an inch 

 long, the subdistant dark brown or nearly black deltoid teeth not 

 more than ^ in. long. Peduncle, including thyrsoid panicle, 

 12-15 ft. long. Flowers If- 2 in. long; tube very short; seg- 

 ments narrow, greenish, an inch long. Stamens twice as long as 

 the segments. Capsule 1|~2 in. long. 



Var. A. ELONGATA Jacobi, Monogr. 108. A. fourcroyoides Jacobi. 

 A. ixtlioides Lemaire. A. rigida var. longifoUa Engelm. A. Can- 

 delabrum Todaro, Hort. Bot. Panorm. i. 66, t. 15. — Leaves 100 to a 

 rosette, 3-4 ft. long, 4-5 in. broad. Peduncle including ample 

 thyrsoid panicle 20-25 ft. long. 



■' , Var. siSALANA Engelm. Notes, 28. — Trunk short. — Leaves 4-6 ft. 

 long, 4-6 in. broad, generally without teeth. Peduncle including 

 panicle 25-30 ft. long. 



Hab. South Mexico; Provinces of Vera Cruz, Yucatan, &c. This is the 

 species which yields the most valuable fibre, for a full account of which see 

 Morris in ' Kew Bulletin,' No. 3. The export from Yucatan in 1883 was worth 

 £658,000. A. rigida Miller was named from a dwarf form with entire leaves. 



