AMARYLLIDACE&. 245 



Its native country is not known. A variegated form is often cul- 

 tivated in gardens. D. and P. say that A. Wightii will doubtless 

 hold its own as a hedge plant, especially in the drier provinces. The 

 fibre is reported as good, but shorter than that of A. sisalana. Leaves 

 ensiform, linear-lanceolate, very many, 2-3 ft. long, and up to H 

 in. at its widest part, inserted in a compact series on a stout usually 

 conspicuous trunk which is partly procumbent or throughout ascend- 

 ing, forming a stiff even rosette 3-5 ft. in diam., pale green or often 

 tinged with ashy grey ; base thin, broadly amplexicaul ; marginal 

 prickles rather weak, about f in. apart, usually consisting of a small 

 brown cushion carrying a semi-transparent garnet -coloured spine 

 which is often sharply recurved parallel to the leaf edge, but ending 

 in a finely barbed hook pointing upwards ; terminal spine about i 

 in, long, pale, slightly decurrent. 



A. deoipiens, Baker in Kew Bull. July -Aug. 1893, No. cclvii 

 D. & P. I c. under letter K, p. 92. 



False Sisal. Cultivated only in Bot. and Horticultural Gardens at 

 Calcutta, Saharanpur and Lahore ; naturalized in Florida with 

 A. sisalana, . Perrine ; native country not known. Very near to A. 

 Ixtli, Karwinski, a native of Yucatan. Leaves fleshy, linear, stiff, 

 in section canaliculate, glossy apple-green, 2-4 ft. long, widest just 

 below the middle, forming a compact radiating tuft, of which the 

 outer leaves are nearly at right angles with the axis, the inner ones 

 making gradually an acuter angle ; marginal prickles reddish brown 

 small Lut sharp; terminal spine J in. long or more, not decurrent, 

 blackish, very sharp, inclining backwards. 



2. FURCR^A, Vent. 



Only one species of this genus has shown any tendency to become 

 naturalized in India. This has usually been identified with F. 

 gigantea, Vent, but its exact identification with that species has 

 not been satisfactorily determined by Drummond and Pram* 

 for want of specimens of the inflorescence. It is planted and has 

 become naturalized within the area of this flora and in most of 

 the public gardens of India. It is often grown as a hedge plant and 

 sometimes on the sides of railway lines. In Southern India it is 

 known as the "Mauritius Hemp." The fibre is much used in 

 N. India, but it is not known to what extent it is in cultivation for 

 this purpose. (D. and P. L c. pages 105 and 147.) 



