581] ENGELMANN—THE FLOWERING OF AGAVE SHAWII. 
3 
On the 2nd day the anthers are shrivelled, though quantities of 
pollen remain adhering to them ; the perigon withers more ; the 
style in the morning is still shorter than the filaments, but in the 
evening has exceeded their length somewhat; the stigmatic lobes 
remain entirely closed. 
On the 3rd day these changes go on gradually and slowly. 
(Fig. 7 -) 
On the 4th the style is 2 inches longer than the perigon, the 
lobes of which are wilted and twisted, while the filaments also 
wither; in the evening the stigmatic lobes begin to separate and 
exude some moisture. The color of the flower, which at first was 
greenish and sulphur-yellow, now is of a deeper dirty yellow. 
On the 5th day the style has reached its full development, 2i- 
2f inches longer than the wilted perigon ; the filaments are droop¬ 
ing, the anthers shrivelled, much pollen yet adhering to them ; 
the stigmatic lobes have separated and are covered with a large 
drop of sweet, glutinous stigmatic liquid, which causes the pollen 
grains that drop into it to develope their long tubes (Fig. 8). 
The drop of stigmatic fluid remains fresh and full for another 
and often even a third day, and then gradually dries up ; the func¬ 
tions of the flower are ended with the fertilization of the ovules.* 
I have not yet made mention of the abundant secretion from 
the nectariferous lower part (all the part below the insertion of 
the stamens) of the perigonial tube. During the several days in 
which the flowers were open the whole tube was filled to the brim 
with a sweetish watery liquid, of a slightly nauseous odor. I am: 
not aware that such a secretion has before been observed in Agave 
flowers, and would now consider it as an abnormal phenomenon, 
originating under artificial circumstances, had not others, whose 
attention I had directed to such secretion, noticed the same in 
other species. Prof. C. S. Sargent, of Cambridge, Mass., saw it 
in an A. yucccefolia which bloomed there last winter under glass, 
but could not find it in two specimens of the same species which 
in September flowered in the open air. Of greater importance, 
because made on a wild plant on its native mountains, is the 
observation of the Rev. E. L. Greene, who found last summer in 
* Buds or flowers that are kept for a while separated from the plant, such e.g. as are sent 
fresh by mail, become distorted, the ovary swells, the style lengthens, but the perigon and 
stamens wither even if not yet fully developed. 
A 
