r S nC t by fam ° US V,Ct ° r Conside ^nt ( who lived in Texas for a 



S£ 2 v y ,ts exte Tu appearance the Agave f,,lfera ' without fil «; 



etetthlt?' 1 T Tg T l f bUt thC " margm Solubiil '"tegernnus", cons.sts of 



TZ Se^eH T ,°l the , d ° rSUm ' in a flattened tng0nal ***** the dorsal c™ 

 is also flattened similar to the edges of the flower. This has until now never been 



observed m an Agave. But the most remarkable charactenst.es are that the terminal 



mZ wf ? Strai u ght 18 m thC Shape ° f a C0rk screw lt has an <*»er termmal 



thorn which is not unusual because it has at its base several small .rregular thorns The 



SÄSiiJf made ln ., 18 J 3 ' and that 1 w11 send you if you S ° dSre ' 



hme as the dned leaves, will show you this unusual disposition better than if I onlv 

 explain it to you in these lines written in haste 



t^lnTfH 118 y °u memon \y° u seem t0 atta ch much importance to the shape of the 

 th0n \ I ? er ^ 1S 0ne that 15 most defin >tely new. Th,s species, that in 1 872, was 

 awarded a medal of honor at the honcultural expos.tion of Paris, under the name of 



Jn t^' W3 , S the " CU ' tlVated the Jardln de Plantes - was r *aptized last year 



brought it back hmiself from the environs of Monterey, he assured me that it flowered 

 m the shape of a candelabra and was 3 feet in height (??) 



\SÜ £ T ment ? ^ thlS SUbjCCt that a11 the A g ave with marginated edges in 

 which the flower ,s known ( that is to say nearly all), have a spiky bloom 

 Düring my staym Mexico, I d,d not study the Agave; I did not know the plants and did 

 not have at my disposal any work that could serve me as a guide. In the meandme I did 

 some research m Matehuala and San Luis Potosi, on the Lechugilla, that Covers huge 

 expanses of land in the north of Mexico. It is called " el canamo del pa,s « the hemp of 



n SS" ^ n ° b °° kS 1 WaS aWe t0 br ' ng back t0 «* »P«ies 



the form of samples of leaves, seeds and flowers. I was unable to determme this 



? TO? LT* fl ° WerS and SCeds) that 1 brou S ht back t0 Eur °Pe were 

 unfortunately los at Mr. Buchmger's. However I am convmced that the name of 

 LechugiUa small lettuce), is applied to one group of species instead of a group of 

 A Z Z A ^ V l h f emcmt ^ now b elongs to the group of the Lechugilla, just as the 

 A heterocantha belongs to the group of Lechugilla. The Agave lophantha (of Shiede) 

 A coerulescens, A. univittata Haw, etc. All these spec.es are very similar if not 

 ident,cal. I have to note m the meantime that I never noticed the appearance of small 

 bulbs on the flowers of the Lechugilla, that I obtamed in Mex,co; iTurely wouki have 

 noticed i s charactenst.cs as I preserved several plants filled w,th npe capsules The 



SnrK *? ^ ** °" B 8668 in en0rm0US ^riesin the north of 



the mtenor of Mexico, under the name of "tatli". This Aber , s shorter, thicker and less 

 expens.ve than the one of the Maguey, name which is g,ven to the la ge Aglve such as 



S ZST?« S 1 h3Ve bee " t0,d ** in the state of San Lu,s Potosi 



the trade of tatli reaches tigures as high as I million pesos (dollars) Is it the 

 Lechugilla that provides the populär soap in Mexico called the Amole? I was told but I 

 ttat the ' ' V T US MCX,CanS ^ FranCC) ' and by P e °P ,e wh0 llve in Mex.co, 



nrovl fh^i r" 165 T ' ^ ° ther than the LechuglIla 0ne sh°uld be able to 

 ETE * * . rare pub ! ICat,on in Mexico > on history ( wh.ch is copied from 



e^nt 1 T Smd ^ thC ^ C ° meS fTOm the A § ave m ex,cano;?t " 



evdently an error. Because you have made the acquaintance of a professor in San Luis 



"endvou 1:T« h ™ t0 SPeC ! flCaHy dCfine th,S qUeSt,0n ' Ask h ™ to °bta,n and to 

 send you m a letter, some seeds of the Lechugilla. If you would share some of them 



