390 Notice relative to the Flozvering of the Agave A mericana 



the plant was thought to be dying ; but in about seven days 

 a stem made its appearance, resembling a head of Asparagus 

 of immense size, which, during six weeks, grew at the rate 

 of three inches a day, and then gradually diminished in pro- 

 gress, but not till it had attained the elevation of twenty-seven 

 feet from the ground, which was about the middle of Sep- 

 tember.* As the stalk advanced, it threw out lateral shoots, 

 which did not shew flowers for some time ; but these ulti- 

 mately were produced in great profusion. The two lowest 

 branches first displayed them on the 3d of September ; and 

 others came out in succession from the beginning of October 

 to the end of November, when they all began to lose their 

 colour, and to decay. 



There were upwards of forty flowering bunches, each with 

 between three and four hundred flowers, making, in all, 

 above sixteen thousand blossoms. As the stem grew, the 

 large leaves below it began to wither. Mr. Yates's account 

 to me of the plant, on the 29th of this month, closes with 

 these words : " the plant is as erect as ever, with all its 

 lateral branches and bunches quite perfect; but the yellow 

 flowers are gone, and the appearance of the clusters is 

 black." 



The following summary of the age and dimensions of this 

 plant may be worthy of record. Age twenty-one years. 

 Height from the earth when in blossom twenty-seven feet. 

 The lateral branches, beginning twelve feet above the root, 

 were in number forty-two, the lowest projecting two feet 



* A representation of a branch in flower, as well as a miniature of the whole 

 plant of an Agave Americana, in full blossom, has been published in tne 

 Botanical Repository, Plate 43S. 



