Flowering of Agaves at La Mortola.— An 
unusually wet spring has tended to produce a greater 
flowering of these noble plants than I have ever had 
in any previous sesason. At present there are no 
fewer than twenty-three in blossom, as follows Six 
Agave americana, four A. mexicana picta, three A. 
yucc^folia, two A. Rumphii; also single specimens of 
A. glaucescens, A. angustifolia, A. mitis, A. densiflora, 
A chiapensis, A. scolymus, A. applanata, and A. 
ferox. The little Agave glaucescens, considering its 
size, has made the most extraordinary effort of any. 
The leaves of this plant are only 28 inches in length 
by in breadth, yet it has sent out a flowerstalk 141 
feet in length, which is twisted, and looks like a 
gigantic serpent; it is not branched, but thickly 
covered with yellowish-green flowers, the number of 
which on a careful estimate I find exceeds 3000. 
Thomas Hanbury , La Mortola , near Mentone 
July 3. 
BOTAN tCAL 
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