[ W ] 



the Furcrcea gigantea of De Candolle (Plant. Succ. Hist. 126) or 

 the Agave fcetida of Jacquin (Ic. PI. Ear. F. 379) which are 

 apparently the same as P/uhenet's Aloe americana radice tuberosa 

 fcetida minor non spinosa, Phytog. t. 258, fig. 2 ; Alrnag. p. 79, 

 because the leaves of the plant figured by these authors are 

 described as fetid. Nor does it agree with F. gigantea, Baker 

 (Qard. Chron. N. S. xi. (1879) p, 623) because the leaves of his 

 plant have brown pungent points, whereas in our plant the 

 point is green, blunt and not at all pungent. Further, the leaf 

 of Baker's plant is described as much thinner in the middle, 

 one-eighth of an inch, as against five-eighths to three-quarters 

 of an inch in our plant. What appears to be the Agave 

 fcetida of Linnaeus is in cultivation as a hedge plant in the 

 Calcutta Garden, and is manifestly distinct from either of the 

 species reputed to yield marketable fibre in India. 



Furcrsea sp 2 



Leaf sharply constricted above the base, light green, 

 surface plaits obscure, tip cartilaginous ending in a small but 

 distinct slightly recurved yellow brown spine about ^ in. 

 long ; branches of flowering panicle spreading, perianth seg- 

 ments linear-lanceolate, obtuse, white, externally greenish with 

 faint darker stripes within, anthers rounded, filaments about 

 four-fifths of an inch long, dilated, at the widest about J of 

 an inch broad ; otherwise, so far as the material goes, very close 

 to the preceding. 



India : Mysore ; Butler \ 



By Baker's description this should be his F. gigantea, and it 

 is evidently the same as Wight Icones 2025. It seems doubtful 

 whether F. Commetynii Baker be the same as F. Commetynii. 

 Salm Dyck, which indeed seems to be the Agave foetida of 

 Linnaeus and the Furcraea gigantea of Ventenat. The 

 " Mauritius Hemp " of South India therefore cannot be with 

 propriety spoken of as F. gigantea. 



EEMAEKS ON CERTAIN SPECIES KNOWN IN INDIA. 



Indian economic writers have been constrained either to class 

 the different " Aloe fibres " all under one head, or to classify 

 them roughly under provisional names such as " americana" 



c 2 



