0 
— i 4 — 
ovato multo longioris tubo angusto sensim ampliato lobis line- 
ari-oblongis erectis bis terve longiore, filamentis inferiori tubi 
parti adnatis sursum clavatis perigonium vix duplo superantibus, 
stigmatibus suborbiculatis demum patentibus; capsula tricocca 
subglobosa retusa breviter stipitata. 
Var. /3. tigrina : robustior ; foliis majoribus pulebre purpureo- 
maculatis; staminibus imo tubo adnatis; capsulis depresso- 
globosis. * 
Lusus polyanthus: spica densiflora flbribus in glomerulos 
paueifloros congestis ssepius antholyticis. 
On dry hills and in open woods from Maryland and Virginia 
southward and westward to Missouri and Texas, but not on the 
western plains or in West Texas, nor on the Rio Grande ; the 
variety salt-marshes on the coast of South Carolina, Dr. Melli- 
champ.—FI. June to August, according to.latitude.—This species 
was first known through Clayton’s collection, who described it as 
“Aloe from Virginia,” and makes mention of its fragrant flowers 
and deciduous leaves ; from his specimens and notes it was pub¬ 
lished by Gronovius in his Flora Virginica, 1739, and through 
him became known to Linnaeus, who in 1751 (Amoen. Acad. 3, 
p. 22) referred it to his new genus Agave. 
Leaves mostly i-i foot long, ij or 2 inches wide; in a form 
from Houston, Texas, the leaves are lance-linear and not more 
than half as wide ; marginal teeth extremely small, consisting of 
single projecting epidermis cells, or larger, to (rarely) \ line 
long, and then consisting of innumerable short cells, not sharp- 
pointed, but rough, like the small serratures of some Yuccas, only 
less rigid. Scape altogether 3-5 feet high, of which the spike 
measures 1 or feet. Flower, including ovary but excluding 
stamens—as I always measure Agave flowers—i-if inches long, 
with the stamens £ or rarely 1 inch longer; anthers 6-6£ lines 
long. Capsules 7-9 lines long, a little less wide ; seeds 2-3 lines 
wide, lightly reticulated, with depressed, minutely dotted areas. 
Var .tigrina is larger and more robust; leaves tapering to a 
point or' abruptly cuspidate, i-i§ feet long, 2i-3 inches wide, 
beautifully mottled; the purple color is produced by a clear 
purple liquid contained in a single layer of small flattened cells 
between the transparent epidermis cells and the large parenchy¬ 
matous cells filled with chlorophyll and often with rhaphides; 
