FUNTUMIA 



FURCR.EA 



1305 



FUNTUMIA (Funtum is one of the vernacular names 

 of F. elastica). Apocynacex. Three trees, sometimes 

 very tall, of Trop. Afr., formerly placed in Kickxia, one 

 of them being a rubber tree. F. eldstica, Stapf, reaches 

 100ft., with a cyh'ndric trunk and pale spotted bark: 

 Ivs. oblong or lance-oblong, undulate: fls. white or 

 yellowish in short-peduncled many-fld. dense cymes, 

 the corolla-tube constricted above the base, the lobes 

 oblong and obtuse; stamens inserted well down in the 

 corolla-tube; disk 5-parted: follicles oblong-clavate, 

 woody. Offered in Eu.; yields the Lagos caoutchouc. 



FURCRjJEA (Ant. Francois de Fourcroy, 1755-1809, 

 chemist). Syn., Fourcroya, Fourcrcea, Furcroya, Fur- 

 crcea. Amarylliddceae. Succulent desert plants from 

 tropical America. 



Some with spiny foliage like Agave, others with 

 minutely toothed margins like Beschorneria. They 

 occasionally bear immense loose panicles of greenish 

 white fls., suggesting those of Yucca fdamentosa, which 

 are known to every plant-lover of the N. The perianth 

 of Furcrsea is whitish and wheel-shaped; in Agave 

 greenish yellow, funnel-shaped. The filaments in 

 Furcraea have a cushion-like swelling at the base, 

 which is absent from Agave. 



Furcraea is cultivated much in the same way as 

 Agave, except that the furcreas are given more heat 

 and water. F . gigantea has a very pretty variegated 

 form, which makes a useful pot-plant. 



As a rule, furcreas bear fruit not more than once, 

 and then die without producing suckers. However, 

 they produce while in flower an immense number of 

 bulbels, which may be used for propagation. It is 

 impossible to say at what size or age the plants will 

 bloom. Grown in pots, they may take a century. On 

 the other hand, plants from bulbels have been known 

 to flower at three years. Seeding is usually rare. 



A. Lvs. rough-margined but not toothed, glaucous, striate- 

 roughened beneath: infl. pubescent: pedicels short. 

 SERRULATE. 



1. longaeva, Karw. & Zucc. Slender unbranched 

 tree, up to 50 ft.: Ivs. rigidly outcurving, narrowly 

 lanceolate, gradually acute, concave, 3-6x60 in.: 

 infl. 15 ft., broadly conical, short-stalked; fls. !%-!% 

 in.; ovary rather longer than segm.: caps, elongated, 

 narrowed below; seeds small (J^x^in.): bulbels 

 unknown. S. Mex. to Guatemala. Zuccarini. Act. Acad. 

 Leop. Carol. 16, pt.2:48. M.D.G. 26, p. 10. Bateman, 

 Orchid, of Mex. & Guat. Vignette to pi. 16. B.M. 5519, 

 (habit). Herbert, Amaryll., pi. 34. A similar if sepa- 

 rable species is reported for Bolivia. The most remark- 

 able dracsenoid tree, flowering when extremely old, 

 and then dying, like others of its genus. 



2. Roezlii, Andre (Agave argyrophylla, A. Toneliana, 

 Beschorneria floribunda, Lilia regia, Lilium regium, 

 Roezlia regia, R. reglna, Yucca argyrsea, Y. argyrophylla, 

 Y. Parmentieri, Y. Toneliana, Hort.). Trunk becoming 6 

 ft. or more: Ivs. rather flaccidly spreading, lanceolate, 

 acute, concave or plicate, 3-5x50 in.: infl. 10-15 ft., 



Eubescent, the moderately broad panicle short-stalked; 

 s. 1 % in. ; ovary and segm. about equal : caps, ellipsoidal, 

 scarcely stipitate: freely bulbiferous, the bulbels 

 elongated. S. Mex. R.H. 1887, p. 353. B.M. 5519 (as 

 to details) ; 7170 (as F. Bedinghausii) . G.C. III. 9, p. 489; 



36, p. 45; 46, p. 340. The common plant grown along 

 the Riviera, often as F. longseva, but more commonly as 

 F. Bedinghausii, with which the synonymy is confused. 



3. Bedinghausii, Koch (Beschorneria multiflora, 

 Hort. Yucca Pringlei, Greenm. Roezlia or Yucca bulbi- 

 fera, Hort.). Trunk scarcely 3 ft.: Ivs. rather rigidly 

 outcurving, lanceolate, acute, rather flat, 2-3 x 18-24 

 in.: infl. 10-15 ft., the rather narrow panicle little 

 longer than the scape; fls. 1H in.; ovary and segm. 

 about equal: caps, broadly oblong, abruptly stipitate; 

 seeds moderate (14-/4 x % in.): freely bulbiferous, the 

 bulbels ovoid. Cent. Mex. B.H. 13, p. 327. Ann. 

 Jard. Buitenzorg. II. Suppl. 3:44. G.W. 7, p. 101. 



AA. Lvs. smooth-margined, typically toothed, usually 



green, not striate. EUFURCR^EA. 



B. Prickles rather small and close set: Ivs. narrow; 



margin straight. 



4. cubensis, Vent. (F. hexapetala, Urban. Agave 

 cubensis, Jacq. A. bulblfera, Salm? A. hexapetala, 

 Jacq. A. mexicana, Lam. A. odordta, Pers). Nearly 

 trunkless: Ivs. narrowly lanceolate, spreading, smooth, 

 about 2x50 in.; teeth nearly straight, j^-J^in. long, 

 %-l in. apart: infl. 10-15 ft., long-stalked, nearly 

 glabrous; fls. 2 in.; ovary fusiform, about equaling the 

 segm.: caps, small, broad, stipitate; seeds small 

 (/f-x^j in.): bulbels ovoid. Cuba and Haiti. Jacq., 

 Stirp. Amer. : 175. Ann. Jard. Buitenzorg. II. Suppl. 

 3:40. As badly confused as Agave americana 

 and actually rarely seen in gardens: apparently the 

 original henequen of early writers on the W. Indies, 

 its fiber called cabuya. A related Yucatan species, 

 the cahum, with less lanceolate Ivs. and ovary exceed- 

 ing the perianth, is F. Cahum, Trel., Ann. Jard. Buiten- 

 zorg. II. Suppl. 3:39. 



BB. Prickles large or prominently raised and rather dis- 

 tant, curved, suppressed in certain forms. 



c. Shape of Ivs. oblong-lanceolate, large. 



5. pubescens, Tod. Nearly trunkless: Ivs. spread- 

 ing, concave, smooth, about 3x60 in.; teeth Kin. 

 long, %-l^sin. apart: infl. 15-20 ft., rather short- 

 stalked, pubescent; fls. 2J4 in.; ovary 1 in.; segm. \ l /$ 

 in.: caps, large, broad, variously stipitate: bulbels 

 ovoid. Mex (?). Giorn. Soc. Sci. Palermo 14:5-7. 

 Ann. Jard. Buitenzorg. II. Suppl. 3:43. B.M. 6160(?) 

 (depauperate). Related species are: F. elegans, Tod. 

 of Guiana, with Ivs. 5 in. wide with hooked black- 

 ening teeth K-J^in. long and 1% in. apart, glabrous 

 long-stalked infl., and leafy-tipped bulbels. Hort. 

 Panorm. 4. F. macrophylla, Hook., established in 

 the Bahamas and Jamaica (probably from the south) 

 with teeth J^in. long and 3J^ in. apart, broad 

 umbonate caps, and ovoid bulbels. Hook. Icon. 

 2501. Ann. Jard. Buitenzorg. II. Suppl. 3:37, 45. 

 F. andina, Trel. (F. Deledevdntii, and F. altissima, 

 Hort.?), of E. Peru, with nearly as large and distant 

 teeth, short-stalked infl., cuboid caps, and conical- 

 ovoid bulbels. Ceara or Pernambuco hemp is ascribed 

 to F. agavephylla, Brot. (F. cubensis, Mart. Agave 

 inermis and A. subinermis, Roem.), the caraguata 

 assu of N. E. Brazil., Marcgrav. & Piso, Brazil, p. Ill, 

 of this same group. 



6. Selloa, Koch. Trunk finally 3-5 ft.: Ivs. spread- 

 ing, concave and revolute or plicate, rough-backed, 

 about 3x50 in.; teeth K~/4in. long, !%-!% in. 

 apart, variously curved: infl. tall, stalked, glabrous; 

 fls. IK in.; ovary %in.; segm. 1 in.: caps, not known: 

 freely bulbiferous. Colombia. B.M. 6148. Frequently 

 meant when the name F. cubensis is used. A handsome 

 white- or finally yellow-margined plant, frequent in 

 cult, is F. Selloa marginata, Trel. (F. Lindenii, 

 Jacobi. F. cubensis Lindenii, Hort. Agave cubensis 

 striata, etc., Hort.). Wiesner Festschr., p. 350. I.H. 

 21:186. G.W. 10, p. 212; 11, p. 135; 16, p. 162. G.C. 



