[ 25 ] 



into the submontane Districts of the Agra Province and the 

 Panjab. 



Fibre has undoubtedly been extracted from this species on 

 a considerable scale, but opinions on its quality are conflicting. 



In the Dehra Dun and in the Panjab Siwaliks still another 

 Euagave occurs in a half -wild condition from which a good 

 fibre has been got for certain purposes, and the same has been 

 planted on a marketable scale in the dry tract between the 

 Chambal and the Jamna. This was sent to the Calcutta Garden 

 as A. mexicana, but as will be seen under Part II, Lamarck's 

 "mexicana" is not a good species, and the rules of nomenclature 

 debar the reapplication of the title to a different species. We 

 have not been able to identify the species clearly with any 

 named Agave of which we have the description, and it has 

 therefore to appear in the Descriptive List anonymously as 

 Agave " F.", but it is pretty certainly the same as a species 

 which blossomed in London in 1849 and was doubtingly 

 referred by Moore to the A. mexicana of Haworth (which is 

 not that of Lamarck). 



" H " is a fine Euagave which occurs in several parts of 

 Bengal and the Grangetic Plain as far North as Saharanpur, 

 where it has run wild in the Botanic Garden, and is known, 

 but incorrectly, as "A.lurida" There does not seem to be 

 any record of experiments with the fibre of this species, but 

 the late Mr. G oil an, who had extracted it, informed us that it is 

 of good quality so far as he could judge, and that the leaves 

 are easy for the work people to handle. 



It flourishes under the same conditions as A. Wightii, and 

 the two, though otherwise strongly dissimilar, are often found 

 in the same hedge, though not necessarily planted out at the 

 same period. 



This has the largest leaf of all the Agavese hitherto 

 observed in India attaining 7 to 8 feet and over, with a 

 corresponding breadth, though the leaf is narrower proportion- 

 ately than in A. Vera-Cruz for example. We are disposed to 

 refer it to the Sisalana group of Euagave. There are speci- 

 mens from Madras, which we had placed under this species, 

 but they seem poorly developed in comparison with those from 

 N. India. 



We have not yet mentioned the first species in the List, viz. 

 A, which differs from all the others by the margin of the leaf. 



