AGAVES OF THE UXITED STATES. 95 
acrid, and is poisonous to the human skin, causing intense 
irritation. It is a very showy and handsome phuit. 
Mr. Dodge* refers to this phmt as being cultivated in the 
Botanical Garden at Washington, D. C, under the name of 
A. Mexicana. There is also a fine plant at one time lab- 
eled A. Mexicana growmg in the Missouri Botanical Gar- 
den, which is figured in plate 56. This is obviously not 
A. Mexicana, but identical with the Florida plants. Mr. 
Gurney, the head gardener, says that it was sent to Dr. 
Engelraann by Dr. Parry from Northern Mexico. This 
perhaps indicates the native home of the species. A glance 
at the plate will show the abundance of suckers developed 
close to the trunk of the parent plant. The old recurved 
leaves are trimmed off. 
A. sp. — Leaves ascending and spreading, on young 
plants rather thin, brittle, and much recurved, on old plants 
very numerous, fleshy, heavy, and slightly recurved, light 
bluish-green, glaucous, 15 to 28 dm. long, 20 to 25 cm. 
wide, very thick at base, broadest at the middle, tapering 
to the apex, somewhat rough; end spine brown, terete, 
very narrowly channeled for a short distance; marginal 
prickles very minute and close-set, somewhat tinged with 
brown; scape nearly 13 ra. high, branching at about one- 
fifth of the distance from the top; branches bracteate; 
flowers yellowish-green, (dried) 55 ram. long: segments 
narrow, 23 mm. long; filaments inserted above the middle 
of the tube, protruded for a considerable distance ; ovary 
20 mm. long, slender; pole plants and suckers numer- 
ous. — Plates 60 and 61. — Florida. Occasionally to be met 
with from Indian River to the Perrine Grant, — at Jupiter, 
Lake Worth, Cocoanut Grove, etc. 
Young plants were received at the Garden last season 
from Mr. Kirk Munroe, Cocoanut Grove, Mr. C. T. 
* Report No. 3, Fiber Investigations, Dept. Agric, 1891, 43. 
