Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
July,  1876.  i 
Agave  Americana. 
303 
of  Key  West,  Florida,  informs  me  that  he  has  counted  as  many  as 
2,000  onions  on  a  single  plant  ;  the  average  number  is  1,000.  The 
suckers  are  comparatively  few. 
The  author  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  Agaves  generally  are  vivipar- 
ous, and  states  that  on  the  island  of  Key  West  there  are  three  rather 
marked  varieties.  First,  the  common  green  American  aloe,  with  but 
few  marginal  spines  ;  2d,  the  same,  with  narrower  and  more  spinous 
leaf ;  3d,  a  very  spinous  variety,  having  a  broader  leaf  than  either,  and 
a  bright  silvery-green  color.  John  Ambercrombie,  in  UA  Gardener's 
Pocket  Dictionary,''  vol.  iii,  enumerates  a  variety  having  a  gold-striped 
leaf.  When  young,  the  plants  seem  to  be  equally  spinous,  but  in  the 
course  of  development  the  spines  on  the  common  green  variety  gradu- 
ally disappear,  until,  when  the  plant  has  matured,  the  leaf  margins  are 
almost  uninterrupted.    The  other  varieties  retain  their  spines. 
This  august  plant  flowers  in  from  2  to  10,50  or  more  years,  accord- 
ing to  climate  and  soil  in  which  grown,  and  attention  received.  Mr. 
Howe  has,  by  careful  culture,  caused  the  flower-stalk  to  shoot  up  in 
two  years  from  the  time  the  young  plant  dropped  from  its  parent.  On 
Key  West  Island  there  is  an  area  of  about  seven  acres  covered  with 
A.  Americana,  growing  in  soft  rock  of  oolitic  formation,  covered  with 
a  thin  layer  of  recent  humus.  The  plant  is  uncared  for,  and  flowers 
in  from  5  to  8  years. 
It  usually  requires  about  8  months  after  the  flower-stalk  makes  its 
first  appearance  for  the  plant  to  attain  its  full  growth,  immediately  after 
which  it  begins  to  wither  and  soon  dies,  stem,  leaves  and  roots. 
The  author  cites  from  "Amer.  Journ.  Sc.  and  A.,"  1833,  a  letter 
from  Henry  Perrine,  then  U.  S.  Consul  at  Campeche,  and  the  state- 
ment of  M.  Bazire,  with  which  he  concurs,  in  assuming  the  species 
yielding  the  pulque  of  Mexico  to  be  distinct  from  A.  Americana,  which 
grows  well  in  sandy  or  calcareous  soil  near  the  sea  level.  The  differ- 
ences may,  however,  to  a  great  extent  be  due  to  long-continued  culti- 
vation, which  may  have  caused  the  coarse  fibres  of  the  leaves  to  dis- 
appear under  the  effect  of  rich  soil  and  genial  temperature. 
A.  Americana  is  indigenous  to  the  intertropical  region  of  America, 
and  has  been  introduced  into  most  sub-tropical  and  warm,  temperate 
climes  of  the  earth.  It  was  brought  to  Key  West  by  Mr.  H.  Perrine 
in  1838,  and  was  then  introduced  to  Indian  Key,  Cayo  Largo  and  the 
