Descr. A stemless aloe-like herb. Leaves densely rosu- 
late, sixty to eighty together at the crown, one and a half to 
two feet long, one and a half to two inches broad at the 
base, gradually contracted from thence to the pungent’s 
point, spreading and recurved, smooth and concave above, 
glaucous striolate and rounded on the back, margins and 
middle-line at the back towards the apex armed with stout 
hooked yellow-brown spines one quarter of an inch long. 
Scape lateral, ascending, stout, and as well as the inflorescence 
clothed with pale furfuraceous down ; covered densely below 
and more sparingly above with bracts, the lower of which 
are four to six inches long, erecto-patent and lanceolate, the 
upper much smaller and triangular-subulate. Panicle del- 
toid, a foot long, with few stout spreading branches which 
are flowerless at the base ; bracts ovate-lanceolate, recurved. 
Flowers three-quarters of an inch long, on very short stout 
green pedicels that gradually pass into the swollen green 
base of the perianth. Sepals oblong, obtuse, green, furfur- 
aceous ; rather shorter than the broadly clawed petals, the 
blades of which are ochreous, broadly ovate, obtuse, spread- 
ing. Filaments united at the base with the petals into a 
rather membranous tube, broad, stout ; anthers oblong. 
Ovary narrowly ovoid ; stigmas very short. Capsules twice 
as long as the perianth, divided to the axis into three loculi- 
cidal carpels. — J. D. II. 
Fig. 1, Whole plant much reduced ; 2, leaf and, 8, panicle of the natural size ; 
4, flower ; 5, the same witli 2 sepals and a petal removed : — all magnified. 
