AGAVES OF THE UNITED STATES. 
91 
and clisposorl them in l;iyci\s like the fillers of the Egyptian 
j.;ipyrus the niulbeiTv ( Brou>.s<)netiu) uf the South Sea 
I>iaud-. This formod piqier upon which tiieir hieroglyphics 
were painted. Their nianux-ripts wore f(4ded in rhombic 
hooks by fastening wooden l)oards to tlie extremities. 
Humbokit .states^ that no nation of the ohl continent made 
real books bound in the way tlescribed. 
A RiGiDA siSALANA Engelm.— Leaves bright dark green, 
120 to 180 cm. long, 10 to 14 cm. wide, narrowed, thick- 
ened and keeled above the base, broadest a little above or 
at the middle, and tapering to the apex; terminal spine 
terete, reddish-brown, not channeled, but slightl}' indented 
at the base, 1 to 2 cm. long, not decurrent ; margin usually 
entire, but often with occasional sharp, unequal prickles, 
and sometimes with stout ones ; scape 45 to 90 dm. high; 
panicle much branched, sometimes covering half the length 
of the scape, and having a width about half its length ; 
flowers 55 to 65 mm. long ; ovary rather broad ; perianth 
campanulate, 33 to 35 mm. long; segments a little longer 
than the tube ; filaments inserted above the middle, nearly 
at the line which would mai-k the upper third of tube, 55 to 
60 mm. long; anthers 2 cm. long; capsules oblong, about 
50 mm. long and half as wide. Propagation by pole plants 
and suckers- — Trans. St. Louis Acad, iii, 312, Collected 
Writings, 312; Baker, Amaryllideae, 181.— Yucatan, 
Southern Florida below the frost line, and the adjacent 
islands, including the Keys and the Bahamas. — Plates 54, 
55 and 56. Dr. Havard and Dr. Coulter state that it 
occurs in Southern Texas. 
Specimens examined: — From Merida, Yucatan, Dr. 
Schott, 1865 : Key West, Wright, PaiTy, and Brummel, 
