c 49 r 



East Indies : Grisebach no doubt had seen Herbarium speci- 

 mens labelled " A. americana" but belonging to another 

 species. He observes that no other Agave occurs in West 

 Indian collections, but refers to the A, Antillarum of Descourti/z 

 comparing it with A. sobolifera of Salm-Dyck, which that 

 author understood to have come from Haiti and Jamaica. 



A. sobolifera of Hermann seems to be a well-marked 

 species ; it is figured* by Lamarck (Encyc. MModique, PL 235, 

 fig. 1) as A. vivipara, L.;'A. americana, Rumph.J is quoted as a 

 synonym, and Commelin (Praehdia) is also cited. Lamarck's 

 plant is said to occur in San Domingo (i. e. Haiti) and Jamaica. 

 It seems likely that the account of Browne relates, in part at 

 least, to a Furcraea, and that this led authors to refer to the 

 Agave vivipara of the Species Plantarum, which had stamens not 

 exceeding the corolla. On the other hand both Browne and 

 Descourtilz lay stress on the conspicuous yellow colour of the 

 blossoms, and it is quite possible that two or more species of 

 Euagave are diffused in the West Indian Islands, one being 

 Hermann's " sobolifera" which seems to be very little known, 

 if known at all, in England. 



Lamarck is quoted for another book species which hardly 

 admits of practical identification, viz., Agave mexicana (Diet. /. 

 p. 52 and Encycl. Meth. I. 2&1). In either work the plant 

 is said to be the Maguey of the Mexicans. Furcraea odorata, 

 Per soon, and Agave cubensis, Jacq., are given as synonyms 

 which are = Furcraea cubensis, Vent. The Encyc. Meth. 

 gives no description, and that in the Diet, plainly indicates 

 Furcraaa, so that Agave mexicana falls to the ground as a 

 species. His Agave americana is .evidently = A. lurida 

 H. B. C., as he says it was naturalized in S. Europe, and he 

 had seen living specimens. 



luRoemer's Collectanea (Zurich, 1809, p. 138, Tab. I.) Zuccagni 

 figured and described an Agave, which he identified with the 

 Theometel of Hernandez. The description might be meant for 

 the species figured by Wight in the Icones, but we hardly think, 

 after full consideration, that they can be identical. Roemer's 

 main engraving is not very good and follows possibly that 



* The figure appears to be taken from Hermana. 



