47 



AMARYl.LlDEiE 



mouth of its tube ; stamens 6, with versatile, introrse anthers ; 

 ovary inferior, 3-chambered ; style 1 ; stigma generally 3-lobed ; 

 fruit a many-seeded capsule, or rarely a 1 — 3-seeded berry. Large 

 and beautiful species belonging to this Order are found in abund- 

 ance in Brazil, the East and West Indies, and especially Cape 

 Colony. In the temperate regions they are less common, and by 

 no means so showy. Numerous species are cultivated in our 

 gardens and conservatories, though few, if any, are indigenous to 

 Great Britain. The bulbs of many species are poisonous, some, 

 it is said, to such a degree that deleterious properties are commu- 

 nicated to weapons dipped in their juice. Those of the Snowdrop 

 (Galdnthus nivalis) and Daffodil (Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus) are 

 emetic, and the flowers of the latter species are a dangerous poison. 

 From the juice of the so-called American Aloe or Century plant 

 (Agave americdna) " pulque," a fermented liquor which is a common 

 beverage in Mexico, is prepared. This plant, called by the Mexicans 

 " Maguey," is cultivated over an area of 50,000 square miles, the 

 annual consumption of pulque in the city of Mexico alone amount- 

 ing to the enormous quantity of eleven million gallons, so that the 

 Government derive a considerable revenue from its sale. The 

 plant attains maturity in a period varying from eight to fourteen 

 years, when it forms flowers ; and it is only just before flowering 

 that the juice can be extracted. The central stem with the flower- 

 bud is then cut off near the bottom and the fleshy leaves are drawn 

 over the cavity thus left, and tied. Into this reservoir the juice 

 distils, which otherwise would have risen to nourish the flowers. 

 It is removed three or four times during the twenty-four hours, 

 yielding from one to six quarts of liquor. The juice is then placed 

 in earthen jars, and a little old pulqud is added, when it soon ferments 

 and is immediately ready for use. When fresh, pulque is brisk 

 and sparkling, and in time even Europeans prefer it to any other 

 liquor ; but when old it has an unpleasant odour, which has been 

 compared to that of putrid meat. The Agave grows but slowly in 

 England, and is so long before flowering as to have acquired the 

 name Century plant. When it does flower it sends up a stem 

 some 10 — 30 feet high from the centre of its chevaux de frise of 

 spiked leaves, branched above and bearing some thousands of 

 greenish flowers in a corymbose manner. These flowers secrete 

 so much honey as to drip to the ground and moisten it, whilst the 

 physiological effort is so great that the plant usually dies after once 

 flowering. The leaves of this species yield a fibre known as Pita 

 or Mexican Grass, valuable for cordage and paper-making ; Agave 

 vivipara yields Silk Grass ; A. sisaldna, a native of Yucatan, now 

 grown also in Jamaica, Ixtle Grass or Sisal Hemp. 



