Spanish Bayonet 



153 



length; the bracts are thin and white, the flowers are stalked, drooping, their 

 perianth bell-shaped, 8 to 12 cm. broad, thin and white; the segments are but 

 slightly united at the base, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, narrowed into a bluntish tip 

 and hairy at the apex, the outer series merely sharp-pointed and about half the 

 width of the inner ones; the stamens are about as long as the pistil; the ovary is 

 sessile, greenish, abruptly narrowed into an oblong white style about 8 mm. long 

 terminated by the white-lobed stigma. The fmit is short-stalked and erect, ob- 

 long, 3.5 to 5 cm. long, about three fourths as thick, smooth, rarely if at all con- 

 stricted, blunt at the base, tipped with the short style, shghtly 3-lobed with convex 

 ridges. The outer covering is thin, light brown, and woody; seeds numerous, 

 often semicircular, 12 to 16 mm. long, thin and smooth with a brittle margin. 

 When mature, the fruit sphts into three 2-toothed carpels, releasing the seeds. 



The wood is very porous, brown or yellowish; its specific gravity is about 0.45. 



The young inflorescence is collected just before opening, and eaten by the 

 Mexicans and Indians. 



2. SPANISH BAYONET Yucca gloriosa Linnffius 



An inhabitant of the coastal region from North Carolina to northeastern Florida, 

 rarely met in a wild state but frequently 

 cultivated in the south for ornament, 

 where it has become spontaneous, espe- 

 cially in some of the Gulf States, reach- 

 ing a maximum height of 5 meters, with 

 a tnmk diameter of 1.5 dm.; usually, 

 however, it is much smaller and at times 

 quite stemless. It is also known as 

 Spanish dagger. 



The trunk is stout, usually simple, 

 rarely branched; branches, when pres- 

 ent, very short and bearing relatively few 

 leaves. The rind at the base of the 

 trunk is thick, rather smooth, and light 

 gray. The leaves are dull green, often 

 somewhat glaucous when young, nearly 

 linear, 3 to 5 dm. long; their broad base 

 is rounded to the narrow blade, which 

 is usually widest near the middle, dull 

 green, rarely glaucous, stiff and dark 

 reddish at the apex, with a few teeth or 

 a few short fibers on the brownish margin. The flowers usually appear in autumn, 

 rarely as early as July; they are usually in long-stalked, upright panicles 6 to 12 

 dm. long, sometimes 4 dm. thick, the lanceolate bracts white, sharp-pointed, i to 



Fig. 113. Spanish Bayonet. 



