IAP. cxvr. 



. YU'CCA. 



2525 



4. 



DRACU\\IS 



The Dragon Yucca, or drooping-lcavcd Adam's 

 Needle. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 457. : Reich., 2. p. 84. ; Willd., 2. 184. ; Mart. Mill., No. 3. ; AiL Hort 

 Kew., cd. 2., 2. p. 291. ; Desf. Hist, dcs Arb. et Arbriss., 1. p. 18. ; Ham. Supp., p. S3. ; Elliot Fl. 

 S. Car., 1. 401. ; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836 ; Bon Jard., ed. 1837. 



Synonymes. Y. draconis folio serr&to reflexo Dill. Kith., 437., Com. PrceL, 42. 67. ; Dractmi 

 arbori, &c., Eauh. Pin., 506. ; Tac6ri fblio Dracbni fcrboris simili Bauh. Hist. 



Engravings. Dili. Elth., 324. 117. ; Bot. Reg., t. 1894. ; and OUT fig. 2395. 



Spec. Char., $c. Leaves crenated, nodding. (Willd.) Native of South Caro- 

 lina. Introduced in 1732, and flowering in October and November. 



Description, tyc. Stem rising to the height of 3 ft. or 4 ft. Leaves narrow, 

 dark green, hanging down, serrated, and ending in acute spines. Flowers 

 pendulous, milk-white, with a strong unpleasant smell. Gaertner describes the 

 fruit as a fleshy oblong berry, contracted at the top, with a narrow aperture 

 between the sessile stigmas ; obscurely 6-cornered and 6-celled ; cuticle very 

 thin, not separating ; pulp firm, of a dark dusky 2395 



blood-red colour ; three of the partitions thicker 

 than the other three, all longitudinal : between 

 these are transverse, membranaceous, very thin, 

 white diaphragms, forming partial cells for each 

 of the seeds. Receptacle none, except the cen- 

 tral angle of the cells, to which the seeds are 

 fastened horizontally in a single longitudinal row. 

 Seeds numerous, spherically triangular; flattish 

 on both sides, dark, but not shining. This 

 species is a native of South Carolina, whence 

 Miller received the seeds under the name of oil- 

 seed. It had, however, been previously intro- 

 duced into Europe; and it flowered in August, 1729, at Hamburg, in the 

 garden of M. Von Sprekelsen. The plant was 20 years old, with a trunk 8 ft. 

 high, and the flower-stem was 2 ft. 6 in. long. The flowers were white, 

 and about 150 in a thyrse. The seed-vessel was 3-celled ; and the seeds 

 were horny, wrinkled, and blackish when ripe. Y. draconis, says Dr. Lindley, 

 in the Botanical Register for September, 1836, " is one of the most stately 

 species of the genus. It grows along the sea shore of Carolina, frequently 

 intermixed with Y. gloriosa ; and flowers from May to August, and sometimes 

 grows as much as 9 ft. or 10ft. high. The great peculiarity by which it ap- 

 pears to be distinguished is, the spreading of the flowers, the segments of 

 which, instead of remaining closed in a globose manner, as in most of the 

 other species, expand till they diverge from the flower-stalk nearly at a right 

 angle. The main stem, clear of leaves, was [in the plantfigured in the Botanical 

 Register] 2 ft. long, and terminated in three clusters of leaves, from the centre 

 of each of which rose a flower-stem 3 ft. high. The foliage, notwithstanding its 

 stiffness, does not offend the eye, as the leaves gradually turn back as they 

 grow old," till at last they form a very graceful arrangement. " Nothing can 

 be better adapted than these plants, for ornamenting either artificial or natural 

 masses of rockwork, precipitous banks, or other situations where their sin- 

 gular stems can be so much above the eye as to form a bold and prominent 

 object standing out in strong relief against the sky." Y. draconis is perfectly 

 hardy, and stands out, without the slightest protection, in the nursery of 

 Messrs. Backhouse of York. There are also plants standing out in the 

 Horticultural Society's Garden at Chiswick, which " no weather seems to 

 harm." (Bot. Reg.) Dr. Lindley also observes that yuccas are very suitable 

 for gardens near the sea coast, from that situation being similar to their native 

 habitat. 



5. Y. STRI'CTA Sims. The upright Yucca, or Li/on's narrow-leaved Adam's 



Needle. 



Identification. Sims in Bot. Mag., t. 2<222. 

 Engraving*. Bot. Mag., t. 222-J ; and our Jig. 2396. 



