194 
deltoideo-cuspidatis, floribus in paniculam amplam thyrsoideam dispo- 
sitis, ovario oblongo, perianthii tubo brevi late infundibulari, lobis tubo 
duplo longioribus, staminibus longe exsertis, stylo staminibus demum 
equilongo. 
Hab. Florida, Biscayne Bay, and Lake Worth. For all the material 
from which the plant is described we are indebted to C. R. Dodge, Esq., 
the special agent for fibre investigations of the United States Depart- 
ment of Agriculture. It is the plant “supposed to be A. mexicana, 
figured on plates 7 and 8 of his report, No. 3, issued May 1891. 
Caudex reaching a length of 3-4 feet, whilst A. sisalana, over the 
same area, remains nearly acaulescent. Leaves densely rosuiate, very 
rigid, ensiform, reaching a length of 4 feet, broadest a little below the 
middle, where they reach 34-4 inches, narrowed very gradually to the 
24 in. broad, very 00 and apple-green on both s 
“not distinctly glaucous even when young, usually very concave all 
down the face and convex rarely flat; marginal 
prickles moderately close, deltoid, cuspidate, brown-black, not more 
than a line long. 
Peduncle with panicle about five times as long as the leaves. 
Panicle 8-10 feet long, with a rather flexuose axis, and usually single 
dense clusters of flowers terminating the laxly-disposed simple arcuate 
branches. © : 
Flowers arranged in dense clusters. Ovary oblong, finally 2 in. long, 
fin. diam. Perianth greenish-yellow, an inch long; tube broadly funnel- 
Shaped ; lobes complicate lanceolate from a dilated - base, twice as 
long as the tube. Stamens 18-21, lines long, inserted at the middle of 
the perianth tube; anthers linear, } in. long. Style finally reaching 
to the top of the stamens. TE 
Belongs to the section Rigidæ and nearly allied to A. rigida var. 
elongata, Jacobi, from which it differs by it 
glaucous even when young, broadest below the middle, and nar- 
rowed very gradually to the hard point, which is decurrent for a short 
distance as a narrow brown-black border. The fibre which it yields is 
very inferior in tenacity to that of A. sisalana. I cannot make out any 
material difference between the flowers of the two species. The name 
decipiens refers to the plant being confused so easily with the forms 
J. G. BAKER. 
LX.—BOMBAY ALOE FIBRE. 
(Agave vivipara, L.) 
[K. B., 1890, pp. 50-54.] 
The high prices lately obtained for white rope fibres have stimulated 
their production in nearly every part of the world. The chief supplies 
of these fibres have hitherto been obtained from the Philippines under 
the name of Manila hemp (yielded by Musa textilis, see page 99), 
