302 TRANS. ST. LOUIS ACAD. SCIENCE. 



ovato multo longioris tubo angusto sensim ampHato lobis line- 

 ari-oblongis eiectis bis terve longioie, filamentis inferiori tubi 

 parti adnatis sursum clavatis perigonium vix duplo superantibus, 

 stigmatibus suboibiculatis demum patentibus ; capsula tricocca 

 subglobosa retusa breviter stipitata. 



Var. /3, TiGRiNA : robustior ; foliis majoribus pulcbre purpureo- 

 maculatis ; staminibus imo tubo adnatis ; capsulis depresso- 

 globosis. 



Lusus POLYANTHUS : spica densiflora floribus in glomerulos 

 paucifloros congestis saepius antholyticis. 



On dry hills and in open woods from Maryland and Virginia 

 southward and westward to Missouri and Texas, but not on the 

 western plains or in West Texas, nor on the Rio Grande ; the 

 variety in salt-marshes on the coast of South Carolina, Dr. Melli- 

 champ. — Fl. June to August, according to latitude. — This species 

 was first known through Clayton's collection, who described it as 

 ''Aloe from Virginia," and makes mention of its fragrant flowers 

 and deciduous leaves ; from his specimens and notes it was pub- 

 lished by Gronovius in his Flora Virginica, 1739, and through 

 him became known to Linnaeus, who in 1751 (Amcen. Acad. 3, 

 p. 22) referred it to his new genus Agave. 



Leaves mostly i-i foot long, i J or 2 inches w^de ; in a form 

 from Houston, Texas, the leaves are lance-linear and not more 

 than half as wide ; marginal teeth extremely small, consisting of 

 single projecting epidermis cells, or larger, gV to (rarely) \ line 

 long, and then consisting of innumerable short cells, not sharp- 

 pointed, but rough, like the small serratures of some Yuccas, only 

 less rigid. Scape altogether 3-5 feet high, of which the spike 

 measures i or i i feet. Flower, including ovary but excluding 

 stamens — as I always measure Agave flowers — i-ii inches long, 

 with the stamens i or rarely i inch longer ; anthers 6-6^ lines 

 long. Capsules 7-9 lines long, a little less wide : seeds 2-3 lines 

 wide, lightly reticulated, with depressed, minutely dotted areas. 



Var. tigrina is larger and more robust ; leaves tapering to a 

 point or abruptly cuspidate, \-\\ feet long, 2^-3 inches wide, 

 beautifully mottled ; the purple color is produced by a clear 

 purple liquid contained in a single layer of small flattened cells 

 between the transparent epidermis cells and the large parenchy- 

 matous cells filled with chlorophyll and often with rhaphides ; 



