WURZEL BURST*] YUCCA. 



69 



Yucatan Hemp (Agave rigida, Amaryllidaceae). The stem fibres 

 of Yucatan hemp were formerly obtained from the Agave rigida or 

 spiny-leaved species of aloe. 



Fig. 42 is a photograph of the original Yucatan hemp plant, the 

 leaves of which are lanceolate, acuminate, with a serrate or spiny 

 margin. The dorsal side or back of the leaf is convex, and the inner 

 side is slightly concave. The serrations on the margins of the fibre 

 are probably a source of protection to the leaves of the plant, but 



Fig. 42. Yucatan hemp (Agave rigida). 



these serrations are a bad feature commercially, and have interfered 

 with the extraction of the fibre, but the variety Sisalina of this 

 species has superseded the type as a fibre-producing plant. 



Yucca Fibre or Adam's Needle (Yucca gloriosa, Liliacese). A 

 liliaceous plant, a native of America. The stern is round, and the leaves 

 are closely crowded together, forming a kind of rosette. The leaves are 

 dark green, lanceolate in form, sharp at the point, and entire on the 

 margin. The flowering shoot grows from 2 to 3 feet in height, and bears 

 a paniculate raceme of campanulate lily-like flowers of a white hue. 



The illustration in fig. 43 is from a plant flowering in the open air, 

 near the Orchid house of the Royal Gardens at Kew, in August 1898. 



The plant grows wild abundantly in the districts of Florida, Texas, 

 and Mexico. The fibres obtained from the leaves are best adapted for 

 cordage purposes or for mat-making. The Yuccas seem to flower pretty 



