[ 380 



LV1. Notice relative to the Flozvering of the Agave Americana 

 in the open Air, in the Garden of James Yates, Esq* at 

 Woodville, near Salcombe,in Devonshire. In a Letter to the 

 Secretary. By Abraham Hawkins, Esq, F. H. S. 



Read February 6th, 1821. 



Dear Sir, 



The Agave Americana, or Great American Aloe, men- 

 tioned in my Letter of the 21st October,* 181 1, as then grow- 

 ing in the open ground at Woodville, near Salcombe, Devon- 

 shire, the residence of James Yates, Esq. and as likely 

 to rival the one which flowered at the same place in 1774,+ 

 has fulfilled expectation, and has appeared, in the past 

 season, in all the splendour of its celebrated predecessor. 



Mr. Yates himself states to me, that this Aloe was planted 

 at Woodville in 1804, when it was two or three years old, 

 and only about six inches high. Placed in the open ground, 

 within a few yards of the sea-shore, yet elevated forty or 

 fifty feet above the level of the water, it never had any cover, 

 shelter, manure, or cultivation. In 1812, it was more than 

 five feet high, and it grew during that summer nearly the 

 eighth of an inch daily. In 1820, it measured between ten 

 and eleven feet in height, and covered a space, the diameter 

 of which was sixteen feet, the leaves, close to the stem, being 

 nearly nine inches thick. In the beginning of June last, the 

 centre leaves assumed, at the apex, a pale sickly colour, and 



* See Horticultural Transactions, vol i. p. 243. t Ibid. p. 17<J. 



