226 
AGAVE 
soil, &c., the plant is purely vegetative, and stores up in these leaves 
an enormous mass of reserve materials. At length it flowers, a 
gigantic terminal infl. coming rapidly out, sometimes reaching 
a height of 20 feet, and bearing many flowers. When the fruit 
is ripe the plant dies ; it is thus in a sense an annual. 
Vegetative reproduction occurs in two ways — by suckers from the 
base of the stem, and by the formation of bulbils in the place of many 
of the flowers (p. 113). 
The rush of sap to so large and so rapidly developed an infl. is 
of course very great ; the Mexicans utilise it by cutting off the young 
flower head and collecting the sap. As much as 1000 litres are said 
to have been got from one plant. The fermented juice is termed 
pulque, and is a national drink ; from it they distil a strong spirit 
termed mescal (cf. Cocos). 
Many sp. yield useful fibres. The best is sisal hemp or henequen, 
given by A. rigida Mill. var. sisalana , cultivated in Yucatan, the 
Bahamas, India, &c. Others yield fibres variously known as pita, 
istle, ixtle, lechuguilla, keratto, &c. 
See Rep. Miss. Bot . Gdn. 1896, p. 47; Kew Bull. 1892, p. 21, 
Tropenpfl. 1899, p. 337 ; Dodge, Useful Fiber Plants (Bull. U. S. 
Dpt. Agr. ), &c. 
Agdestis M05. et Sesse. Phytolaccaceae. 1 sp. Mexico, Guatemala. 
Ageratum Linn. Compositae (11). 30 sp. trop. all but one Amer. 
A. conyzoides L., locally known as goatweed, is the commonest weed 
in Ceylon and other parts of the eastern tropics. 
Aggregatae (Warming). The 10th cohort of Sympetalae (p. 138). 
Aglaia Lour. Meliaceae. 60 sp. Ind. to Austr. 
Aglaonema Schott. Araceae (v). 10 sp. E. Ind. There are several 
infl. forming a sympodium. Fir. monoecious, naked. 
Agonis Lindl. Myrtaceae (2). 13 sp. Austr. 
Agrimonia Tourn. ex Linn. Rosaceae (111. 9). 10 sp. N. temp. 
A. Eupatoria Linn, and A. odorata Mill, (agrimony) in Brit. The 
receptacle encloses the two achenes in fruit, and is covered with hooks 
enabling carriage by animals. 
Agriophyllum Bieb. Chenopodiaceae (6). 5 sp. Centr. Asia. 
Agropyron J. Gaertn. Gramineae (xn). 35 sp. temp. A. caninum 
Beauv. (wheat-grass) and A. repens Beauv. (twitch or couch-grass) 
in Brit. The couch-grass is a very troublesome weed in agriculture. 
It has a long rhizome, rooting at the nodes, and if broken up by 
plough or harrow each node gives rise to a new plant. 
Agrostemma Linn. = Lychnis Linn. 
Agrostis Linn. Gramineae (vm). 100 sp. chiefly N. temp., 4 in Brit, 
incl. A. alba L., the white Bent or florin grass, a valuable pasture- 
grass with a creeping stem that roots at the nodes. 
Agrostistachys Dalz. Euphorbiaceae (A. 11. 2). 7 sp. trop. As., Afr. 
Agrostophyllum Blume. Orchidaceae (11). 5 sp. Indo-mal. 
Agyneia Linn. Euphorbiaceae (A. 1. 1). 2 sp. Indo-mal., Masc. 
