THE SMALLEST OF THE CENTURY PLANTS 



13 



in the Pinal Mountains of Arizona. In the course of my study of this 

 group of agaves with thread-margined leaves I have also encountered a 

 garden plant of about twice the dimensions of A. parviflora and with 

 differently shaped leaves, which has been grown under the name of parvi- 

 flora but which is not unlikely to prove more closely related to the 

 thread-bearing amoles of central Mexico. The prickly margin and its 

 replacement by detaching threads which characterize parviflora are 

 particularly well shown on the juvenile foliage of offsets from this 

 plant. 



The other and still smaller dwarf first came into the market under 

 the trade name Agave pumila — given because of its minute size — about 

 thirty-five years ago, the earliest mention of it that I find being in a 

 catalogue published in 1877. No record is available as to ihe source of 

 the plants then or now in commerce, though I have been told that a 

 collector of such plants has seen it in the Andes of Colombia. Like 

 many other agaves, this produces offsets freely and is now rather exten- 

 sively cultivated. It was named in 1888 by Mr. Baker, who stated that 

 his plant — about as large as the one here shown — had not increased 

 appreciably in size for the eight years during which it had been culti- 

 vated at Kew. Though I have no doubt that it grows to something 

 more than this walnut-size, I shall be surprised if it ever reaches 

 the proportions of parviflora. It is known in botanical literature only 

 from the original description. Its very thick leaves have short, sharp 

 end-spines, decurrent on the margin in a dried line of the same texture 

 as the little marginal prickles. From the fact that this margin was not 

 continuous, Mr. Baker was led to range Agave pumila in his submar- 



FiG. 13. Juvenile Foliage. Fig. 14. Lined with Dabk Orekx. 



