190 
The day of usefulness of amateur work in botany, such as that 
of Frost and of Williamson, has not passed. The limits of our 
topic forbid the mention of the names of the living, but even now 
there are farmers, and merchants, and professional men, who by 
devoting their leisure moments to serious study are notably 
advancing botanical science. 
Joun HENDLEY BARNHART. 
A “CENTURY PLANT” IN BLOOM. 
Visitors to the Garden may now have the unusual experience 
of seeing a large species of agave in bloom. The plant is in the 
court of the public conservatories, range no. 1, and forms part of 
the collection of American desert plants installed there during 
e€ summer, moved out from houses nos. and 5. t is at 
present the most conspicuous object in A collection, as is 
shown by the accompanying illustration. From the surface of 
the ground to the apex of the brown flowering stem, which has 
a basal diameter of about two and a half inches, it is nineteen 
feet two inches tall, or nearly twice that of Queen Victoria's agave,* 
about one quarter of this length being occupied by the inflor- 
escence. 
As is usual in this genus, the leaves are confined to the base of 
the plant. In this species they are grey green, flat or somewhat 
flowers they become horizontal. The larger of these leaves are 
about thirty inches long, and at the broadest part, which is at 
about the middle of the leaf, they have a width of five to six 
inches, below this point being narrowed to a thicker base three to 
four inches broad, the very base being abruptly broadened and 
clasping the stem ; the apex is acuminate and is terminated by a 
rather stout deep brown spine, very sharp and about one and a 
half inches long ; the margins are entire, and are armed at inter- 
vals of three quarters to one and a quarter inches with rather 
stout triangular brown spines which have a broad base and are 
about one eighth of an inch Jong 
* For a record of the flowering of this species see Journal 7: 163 167. 
