912 
by pungently scented flowers of inconspicuous coloration, 
The slightly arched sometimes twisted style is longer than 
the somewhat incurved stamens, and both quickly taper and 
become slender above the nectar guides. The stigma is moist 
and slightly fimbriate, and the flowers show a protandry of 
about a day, which should favor cross fertilization, though the 
melon-shaped pollen, somewhat aggregated by viscous cobwebby 
threads into loose masses as in the moth-pollinated genus 
Venothera, is easily jarred from the anthers and, catching 
on the stigma after its;maturity, might readily effect self 
fertilization. 
As an actual fact, the Furcraeas are distinctly unfenitfil, 
and fruit has been made known for very few of the described 
species. Apparently the most constantly capsuligerous species 
is F. Bedinghausi, of the group Serrulatae, which usually 
matures a number of fruits on each inflorescence. On the few 
Eufurcraeas of which the fruit is known, it is sparingly set 
and the impression that the Mauritius hemp, the Ceara hemp 
of northern Brazil, and F. tuberosa as known in Barbados and 
Porto Rico never fruit, rests on observation extending — 
many years. As a rule, the genus depends for propagation 
upon bulbils (Pl. XXXVID, which, following the flowers, usually 
far surpass them in numbers. It is probable that the infertility — 
of the flowers and their slight production of nectar are resalls | 
of rather than contributory to this exaggerated vegetative 
propagation. a 
In the few species of Furcraea in which the fruit 18 known, ol 
it is a broadly oblong thin-walled loculicidal capsule, bes” 
above and stipitately contracted below (Pl. XXXVI). The as 
black Winged seeds, two-rowed in each loculus, are essentially 3 | 
like those of Agave, with a similar peg-like embryo ee ) 
crossing the very slightly ruminately wrinkled albumen se 
near the hilum (Pl. XXXVII and XLIV). | 
So far as observations go, the Amaryllideae eres 
with an arched cotyledon, the seed remaining on oF | 
ground, except for the Agavoideae as conceived by et : 
