130 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



the large teeth 25 to 50 or 70 mm. apart and 10 to 15 mm. long, from abruptly 

 dilated bases, sometimes on very prominent fleshy hummocks. " Maguey 

 Cimarron." 



Agave crafisispina culta Trel., var. nov., differs from the type in its smaller 

 spine and marginal teeth. San Luis Potosi; type locality, San Luis Potosi. 

 " Maguey manso " ; planted for pulque. 



104. Agave tecta Trel. Trans. Acad. St. Louis 23: 145. 1915. 

 Guatemala ; type cultivated in hedges at Quezaltenango. 



Leaves gray-green, very thick and broad, spreading, plicate above the middle, 

 50 cm. wide, 200 cm. long, with purple-chestnut or gray spine 5 to 7 mm. wide 

 and 45 to 65 mm. long, and recurved triangular teeth 40 to 70 mm. apart and 

 8 mm. long; scape densely covered by broad appressefl imbricate bracts. 

 " Maguey." 



105. Agave atrovirens Karw. in Salm-Dyck, Hort. Dyck. 7. 302. 1834. 

 Oaxaca and Puebla ; type locality, Mount Tanga, near Cajonos, Oaxaca. 

 Leaves dark green, very thick, ascending at the end, contracted at base, 



30 to 40 cm. wide, 200 to 250 or even 400 cm. long, with elongate conical gray 

 spine, and triangular teeth about 10 mm. long from low widened bases between 

 which the margin is nearly straight. " Maguey verde grande." 



Very extensively planted on the plains of Apam, in many forms, and the 

 principal source of the pulque industry of Mexico, amounting to something like 

 five million pesos annually. The most prized of the many forms planted are 

 " maguey manso " and " maguey manso fino." Some mezcal called " mezcal de 

 pulque " is distilled from pulque. 



No fewer than 32 forms from about Apam are enumerated and their spines 

 and marginal teeth pictured by P. and I. Blasquez in a " Tratado del Maguey," 

 published at Puebla ; and half as many more are listed for the District of 

 Cholula. These lists contain the following Latin names — hardly employed 

 according to botanical usage : Agave acerva, A. aspera, A. hlanda, A. cereus, 

 A. cervus, A. cholulensis, A. cinerca, A. citriilacea, A. criapa, A. echklne, A. 

 elegans, A. flava, A. foliosa, A. fimis, A. glanca, A. insulsa, A. lutea, A. lutea 

 mayor, A. maculata, A. maximiUanea, A. minmta, A. nigra, A. paUida, A. 

 praestan^, A. procera, A. profusa, A. rubra, A. silvestris, A. smaragdina, A. 

 spinaceum, A. spinosa, A. splnosissima, A. snperda, A. torosa, A. vgriegata, A. 

 vesca, A. violacea, and A. viridis. Aztec names, based on the word metl and 

 not maguey, are given frequently to the forms recognized by planters. 



Quite as disconcerting as to differentiate these, is any effort to recognize a 

 number of the nominal species of this group bnsed on young plants cultivated 

 in European gardens a generation ago. A gray-leafed form closely allied to 

 the green atrovirens but with leaves less narrowed at base is var. salnUana 

 {A. salmiana Otto in Salm-Dyck, Bonplandia 7: 88. 1859), the scape of which 

 is densely covered by long, somewhat spreading bracts, and of which the most 

 glaucous extreme is A. salmmna glanca Becker (Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 8: 

 150). An exceptionally broad-leafed form is var. cnchlcaris {A. cochlearis 

 Jacobi, Abh. Scliles. Ges. Vaterl. Cult. 1871: 151. 1871). known in Sicilian 

 gardens as .4. whitalceri. 



106. Agave mapisaga Trel., sp. nov. 



Leaves green, sliglitly glaucous, narrow, rather straiglit but outcurving in 

 age, 15 cm. wide, 175 to 250 cm. long, with rather short and recurved, chestnut 

 or gray spine 4 to 8 nun. wide and 30 to 35 mm. long, and small but broad- 

 based teeth 15 to 30 mm. apart and 1 to 2 mm. long, the intervening margin 



