CHAP. CXVI, 



LILJA'CEJK. YUCCA. 



2521 



in the root, we have no doubt that R. androgynus, and some other species which are now kept in 

 the green-house, would live against a conservative wall. 



GENUS III. 



YU'CCA L. THE YUCCA, or ADAM'S XEEDLE. Lin. Syst. Hexandria 

 Monogynia. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 456. ; Reich., 2. 83. ; Willd., 2. 183. ; Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 2., 2. 291. ; N. 



Du Ham., 3. 145. 

 Derivation. The name of the plant in Peru. 



Description, %c. Low evergreen shrubs, with the habit of palm trees; 

 natives of North and South America. In British gardens, most of the species 

 are somewhat tender. They prefer a dry and deep sandy soil, or a sandy 

 loam ; and they are readily propagated by suckers, which are thrown up by 

 the roots, or by side shoots, which are occasionally produced on the stem. 

 They sometimes ripen seeds, which, if sown immediately after they are 

 gathered, and placed on a moderate hot-bed, will come up in six weeks. In 

 their native countries, their leaves, treated like the stalks of hemp or flax, 

 afford a fibre which may be used like that of those plants, in the manufacture 

 of cloth or cordage; and the stems, macerated in water, deposit a feculent 

 matter, from which starch may be procured. In a floricultural point of view, 

 all the species are highly ornamental ; and no lawn or flower border ought to 

 be without some of them. Considered with reference to landscape-gardening, 

 the yucca, like other trees and shrubs of formal shapes and rigid habit, when 

 planted in masses, cannot readily be made to harmonise with the masses sur- 

 rounding it ; but, as a single object, it is well adapted for attracting attention 

 on a lawn, for the summit of a formal knoll, for growing out of rockwork, 

 for ruins, and for various purposes of a similar nature. As the yucca grows 

 naturally on the sea shore, it is particularly adapted for marine gardens. In 

 imitating Italian scenery round an Italian villa, the yucca, planted in large 

 vases, may be substituted for the agave. Plants, in the London nurseries, 

 are from 2s. to 5,y. each. 



* 1. F. GLORIOUS A L. The glorious Yucca, or Adam's Needle. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 456.; Reich., 2. 83.; Willd. Sp. PI., 2. p. 183. ; Ait. Hort. Kew., ed. 2., 



2. p. 291. ; Desf. Hist, des Arb., &c., 1. p. 17. ; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. 

 Synonymes. Y. fbliis ^'loes Bauh. Pin., 91. ; Y. canad^na Aid. Hort. Par., 33. ; Y. indica, &c., Barr. 



Rar., 70. t. 1194. ; Y., or Yucca, peruana, Ger. Emac., 1543., Raii Hist., 1201., Park. Parad., 434. 



t. 435. f. 1. ; 1". ndva gloriosa, &c., Lob. Adv., 2. p. 507. ; Cordyllne, &c.,Roy Lugdb., 22. ; the 



superb Yucca; Yucca nain, Bon Jard., lt-37 ; Yucca a Feuilles entidres, Fr. ; prachtiger Yukka, 



Ger. 

 Kngravingt. Hot Mag., t 1260 ; and our Jig. 2391. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Leaves entire. { Willd.) A native of North America. In- 

 troduced in 159G, and flowering in July and August. 

 Variety. 



Y. g. 2foliis variegdtis Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836, has the leaves variegated. 



Description, $c. This species has a stem, or trunk, about 2 ft. or 3 ft. high, 

 clothed with leaves almost to the ground. The leaves are broad and stiff, but 

 thin : they are of a very dark green, and end in a sharp black spine. The flower- 

 stalk is generally about 3 ft. high, branching out on every side to a considerable 

 distance ; but the flowers are very wide asunder on the stalk. Sometimes the 

 panicles of flowers spring at once from the centre of the leaves, without the in- 

 tervention of a stalk. The flowers are bell-shaped, and hang downwards; and 

 each petal is white within, but is marked with a purple stripe on the outside. 

 They are scentless,appear from July to September, but are seldom succeeded by 

 seeds in England. This yucca is a native of Virginia and Carolina, of Cartha- 

 gena in New Spain, and of the West Indies ; and, though a native of warm coun- 



