TREES AND SHRUBS 31 



THE LILY FAMILY (Liliaceae). 



Among all that great group of plants to which the palms 

 and lilies and grasses belong there are only a few species of 

 shrubby plants found growing in New Mexico. These belong 

 to three genera and the plants are all very similar in general 

 form. The ordinary Spanish Dagger or Palma may be taken 

 as a representative of the group. The plant always consists 

 of a rather short thick stem, which may be only a few inches 

 or several feet in length, mostly simple but sometimes 

 branched, and crowned by a tuft of numerous radiating 

 parallel-veined leaves. Mostly the leaves are narrow and flex- 

 ible, but in a few species they are rather stiff and sharp 

 pointed. 



The yuccas are the commonest of these plants, and the 

 different species occur under a variety of local names. They 

 may be recognized by the fact that the leaves are always spine 

 tipped and margined by a thread-like filament but without 

 teeth along the margin. The flowers are always large and 

 whitish, and contain both pistils and stamens. They vary 

 from an inch to three inches in length, and the petals are 

 thick and wax-like. 



Most people see very little of value in these plants, but 

 they, with others of their associates, offer a number of horti- 

 cultural possibilities. The one quality of paramount im- 

 portance which these plants possess is their perfect adaptation 

 to arid conditions, which must be endured in many places 

 where it is very desirable to have some vegetation. Attention 

 has already been called to the appearance of many of the cattle 

 ranches of the State, and there is no doubt that the owners 

 of many of these ranches excuse themselves from any exertion 

 towards adding vegetation to their surroundings by saying that 

 nothing will grow on our mesas. These two plants (as well 

 as some others) are living refutations of their excuses. Not 

 only will they grow, but they will grow well, and what is 

 better still, plants of these species of any size and age may be 



