Texan Bayonet 



155 



are thick, and smooth, the pedicels stout, 2.5 to 5 cm. long; the flowers open 

 widely at night; they are 7.5 to 10 cm. across; the perianth is creamy white, often 

 tinged with green or purple, its segments 4 to 6 cm. long, oblong to elliptic, the 

 outer sharp-pointed. The fruit is a short-stalked, drooping, pulpy capsule, nar- 

 rowly oblong, 7 to 10 cm. long, somewhat 6-sided, rounded at the base, narrowed 

 and beaked at the apex, with a fleshy, deep purple pulp which is bitterish but 

 sweet, and is eaten by the negroes at the south, who call them "Bananas." The 

 seeds are rounded or oval, often sharp-pointed, about 6 mm. long, 1.5 mm. thick, 

 black and shining. 



The Spanish dagger is much planted for hedges surrounding tropical gardens; 

 it is often seen in conservatories and is known in several cultivated varieties. 



4. TEXAN BAYONET — Yucca Treculeana Carrifere 



Occurs from south-central Texas to northeastern Mexico, scattered, or in large 

 groves, reaching a height of 9 meters, with a trunk diameter of 6 dm., but sometimes 

 much smaller and forms very dense thickets. It is also called Spanish dagger. 



The trunk is simple or few-branched, the branches being short, stout, and 

 spreading. The rind at the base of the trunks of old trees is about 8 mm. thick, 

 fissured into thick, angular plates and 

 covered with small close scales of a 

 dark reddish brown color. The leaves, 

 which persist for many years, are 

 numerous, bluish green, lanceolate, 9 

 to 12.5 dm. long, roughish, thick and 

 stiff, somewhat narrowed above the 

 broad clasping, dark red, shining base, 

 widest near the middle, very concave 

 above, armed at the apex with a short, 

 sharp, dark brown spine; the margin 

 is pale, thickened, and soon separates 

 into fine dark-colored fibers. The 

 flowers appear from March to May in 

 short-stalked glabrous bracted pani- 

 cles 6 to 12 dm. long; the lowest 

 bracts are very large. The flowers are 

 pendent on short, slender pedicels, 

 nearly globular, 5 to 10 cm. broad, white or purplish, the perianth- segments free 

 to the base, thin, ovate-lanceolate, 3 to 5 cm. long, sharp or taper-pointed; the 

 stamens are about as long as the ovary, their filaments hairy, bent outwardly at 

 the top; ovary 3-lobed, tapering to the sessile, deeply lobed stigma. The fruit, 

 ripening in summer, is a stalked and drooping berry-Uke indehiscent capsule, ob- 

 long, slightly 6-sided, grooved or 3-lobed, 7.5 to 10 cm. long, rounded at the base 



Fig. 115. — Texan Bayonet. 



