Trelease—The Agaveae of Guatemala. 133 
lombia; and Mr. Drummond, in his summary review of 
the genus,'* expresses the opinion that its Guatemalan 
origin seems to require verification. Accepting this 
view, particularly as the descriptions of F. Selloa do 
not well fit the only species of the Quezaltenango region 
—which is very clearly distinct from what is commonly 
cultivated as F’. Selloa, I should say that as yet none of 
the larger-toothed group Eufureraea has been shown to 
be Guatemalan. Three such species actually occur in 
the Republic: one known only locally on the East slope; 
one extending from some 2500 feet altitude on the east- 
ern slope through the district of Guatemala City at 
about 5000 feet to something like 2500 feet above sea- 
level on the western slope; and the third at rather higher 
altitudes in the mountains about Quezaltenango. The 
second and third of these are somewhat abundant, espe- 
cially the second, and a good deal of fiber is prepared 
from them by erude means, though not on a commercial 
scale. Both are called ‘‘maguey’’, like the agaves. In 
contrast with this, the single representative of the un- 
armed group Serrulatae that I know as Guatemalan is 
called ‘‘cheech’’; this is said by its collector to furnish 
a sort of crude cordage. 
The habitats of both Agave and Furcraea in Guate- 
mala correspond to what is known of them elsewhere. 
Agave, distinetly northern, represented, as has been said, 
by its larger section Euagave and usually strongly xero- 
phytic, occurs in gravelly or stony places, on the sides of 
barrancas, etc., and less commonly on the faces of rocky 
cliffs than in Mexico. Furcraea, a distinctly southern 
genus, more frequently found in timbered regions, here 
also affeets the wooded adobe hillsides unless, as seems 
probable, the more xerophytie Serrulatae occur here as 
to the north in more open and better drained soil. 
14 Rept. Mo. Bot. Gard. 18: 45. 1907. 
