4 



C 46 ] 



a synonym for his vivipara. In the text of Gommelln nothing 

 is said of the stamens being equal to the corolla ; and it is 

 expressly stated that the Aloe americana sobolifera of Hermann, 

 which Linnaeus excludes altogether but compares with his 

 vivipara, is a totally different plant from the polygona. 



Commelin is positive that his polygona is the Aloe americana 

 minor of Munting and his engraving corresponds with Ray's 

 description (based on the Aloidarium presumably), but the further 

 identification with the Theomelel of Hernandez rests on the 

 statement of a ship's captain who had brought the plant to 

 Europe as a febrifuge with the native name Theometel, which 

 Hernandez had rendered as "Maguey divinum." 



Aloe americana minor, however, from the description would 

 seem to differ from the plant which is figured by Wight (Icones, 

 202K) as naturalized in India and referred to the Linnsean 

 "vivipara." Wight's species, which is at once recognizable from 

 other Enagaves, has a strong likeness to a rough sketch in 

 Hernandez, but this is not his TheometeL 



In the 2nd ed. of the Species Plantarum, Linnaeus added 

 as a further synomym for his " vivipara " Aloe americana, 

 Rumph. 5. p. 273 t. 9&. Rumpf did not intend apparently to 

 identify his plant with that of De Lecluse, but in any case 

 it is certain that they are perfectly distinct whether what De 

 Lecluse saw was A. americana of Linnaeus or another species. 

 If De Lecluse' drawing was taken from an offset, as is stated, 

 it was probably = A. lurida H. B. C., but it is difficult to 

 separate young plants of this from true americana. 



Following the later editions of the Species Plantarum, the 

 real plant of Rumpf has been often called Agave vivipara, 

 especially in the East Indies. 



In the Hortus Elthamensis (Amsterdam, 1774) Dillivyn figures a plant in 

 Sherctrd's garden (in England) which is styled on the plate " Aloe larladensis 

 mitior laete mrens et splendens " ; in a List in which the plants are harmonized 

 with the Species Plantarum this is reduced to Agave americana of Linnaeus. 



If the identification he correct and the specimen came from Barbadoes 

 this would shew that the true " amerioana " was then in the West Indian 

 Islands, hut the drawing is indifferent. 



In the fourth volume of the Collectanea (Vienna, 1790, p. 9. 

 t. 1} Jacquin figured and described his Agave lurida, which he 

 identified with a species published under that name in the 

 Hortus Kewensis of Alton (1st ed., London, 1789), at the same 

 time stating that it was well known in Botanic Gardens as the 



