232 



AGAVE 



AGAVE 



A. Infl. a candelabrum-like panicle. (1-26.} Svbgenus 



EUAQAVE. 



B. Lvs. dagger-like or sword-shaped: spine not decurrent: 



fls. rather large, greenish, long-lobed, ill-smelling, 

 often followed by bulbils; seeds very large. Trunk 

 often developed. 



c. Fls. urceolately contracted in throat. 

 1. angustifdlia, Haw. (A. lurida, Jacq. A. Jac- 

 quiniana, Schult. f. A. ixllioldes, Hook. A. Wightii, 

 Prain. A. vivipara, Auct.). Short-trunked : Ivs. 3 x 16- 

 24 in., gray-green, with flat spine and slender-cusped 



prickles: infl. few-branched; fls. 1)^-2 in.; segms. and 

 ovary %in. each, tube J^in. : caps, subglobose, strongly 

 Btipitate and beaked. Cent. Amer.(?). Jacq., Obs. Bot. 

 4, pi. 1. Targioni Tozzetti, Ann. Firenze. 2, pi. 6. B M 

 5097, 5893. Wight, Icon. PI. Ind. Or. 2024. Rep. Mo. 

 Bot. Card. 19, pi. 29-34. Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. 49 pi 

 32. Mem. Nat. Acad. 11, pi. 106-109. A form with 

 white-margined Ivs. is var. marginata, Trel. (A. vivi- 

 para variegata and A. superba, Hort.), Wiesner Festschr., 

 pi. 8, and a variant of this with the body color gray- 

 green is var. Wopdrdwii, Trel. (A. Woodrowii, Wats., 

 and A. Cookei, Woodrow), Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 19, pi. 

 35. A dwarf form of the unvariegated type is var. Sar- 

 gentii, Trel., Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 22, pi. 100-103. 



2. sisalana, Perr. (A. anacdntha., Terr. A. br'evis, 

 Hort. A. Houlletiana or Houlleltii, Hort. A. Isaris, 

 Hort. A. ixtli sisalana, Hort. A. rigida progressana, 

 Boyd. A. rigida sisalana, Auct. A. sisala, Perr. A. sisa- 

 lana inermis, Riviere. A. sisalcma yashquw,, Perr.). 

 Nearly trurikless: Ivs. 4 x 60 in., becoming green, with 

 shallow-grooved spine and typically no prickles: infl. 

 ample; fls. lJ^-2^ in.; ovary, segm. and tube about 

 equal: caps. rare. Yucatan or Chiapas(?). Perrine, 

 Senate Doc. 300, pi. 1, 2, 4. Dodge, Rep. Fiber Invest. 

 3, 5, 9, with pi. Rep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 7, pi. 54-56. Proc. 

 Amer. Phil. Soc. 49, pi. 32. Mem. Nat. Acad. 11. pi. 

 113-115. -The yaxci,green agave or sisal hemp most 

 commonly cult, outside of Yucatan: largely distributed 

 to growers from Trop. Fla. where Perrine intro. it 

 about 1835 and, as in some of the W. Indies, it has be- 

 come naturalized. It has been crossed by Trabut with 

 A. vera-cruz under the name "potosina." 



3. fourcroydes, Lem. (A. Ixtli elongdta, Auct. A. 

 ixttimdes, Lem. A. longifolia, Auct. A. rigida, A. 

 rigida elongdia and A. rigida longifolia of most writers). 

 Trunk 3-6 ft.: Ivs. 3-4 x 60-90 in., gray, with round- 

 grooved spine and slender curved prickles: infl. ample; 

 fls. 2%-2/4 in.; ovary 1-1 % in., segm. and tube 1% in. 

 each: caps, obovoid, slightly stipitate and beaked. 

 Yucatan. Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. 49, pi. 32. Wiesner 

 Festschr., 349. Mem. Nat. Acad. 11, pi. 110-112. 

 The sacci. gray agave or henequen, largely grown for 

 fiber in Yucatan. A form with greenish white me- 

 dian variegation is var. medio-picta, Trel., Wiesner 

 Festschr., pi. 12. The shorter-lvd. but similar chelem 

 of the Yucatan coast is A. ixtli, sometimes called A. 

 silveslris or A. prolifera, and a related plant has been 

 called A. minima. A large-lvd. poorer form of A. 

 fourcroydes is known as chucumci, and a shorter-lvd. 

 form of this as babci. 



4. decipiens, Baker (A. laxifblia, Baker. A.latifdlia, 

 Auct. A. spiralis, Hort.). Trunk 6-8 ft. : Ivs. 2-4 x 36- 

 50 in., green, rather soft and somewhat outcurved, with 

 round-grooved spine and slender prickles from green 

 prominences: infl. ample; fls. 2J4 in.; ovary \y% in., 

 segm. and tube %in. each: caps, pyriform. Yucatan. 

 Dodge, Rep. Fiber Invest. 3, 5, 9, pi. Rep. Mo. Bot. 

 Gard. 7, pi. 57-59. B.M. 7477 The false sisal, exten- 

 sively naturalized, if not indigenous, in Fla. This and 

 A. Karwinskii deserve the name arborescent, in the 

 genus Agave. 



The tequila mescals (A. tequilana, Web., etc.), grown 

 in W. Mex. for the preparation of a distilled beverage, 

 and the zapupes (A. Zapiipe, Trel., etc.), grown for 

 fiber in E. Mex., are closely related to the preceding 

 group. 



cc. Fls. slenderer, not urceolate. 



5. Karwinskii, Zucc. (A. Corderoyi, Hort. A. Bakeri, 

 Ross). Trunk 9-12 ft.: Ivs. 1-1^x15-30 in., green, 

 with openly grooved spine and stout upcurved prickles: 

 infl. rather ample; fls. 2-2}^ in.; ovary 1 in., segm. and 

 tube about %i n - each: caps, oblong, brown, stipitate 

 and beaked. S. Mex. Ross, Icon. Panorm, pi. 2. Rep. 

 Mo. Bot. Card. 18, pi. 29-31. MacDougal, N. A. 

 Deserts, pi. 23. 



