AGATHYRSUS. See Mulgedium.
AGATI (its Sanscrit name). ORD. Leguminosæ. Ornamental stove trees from India, with lanceolate stipulas, abruptly-pinnate leaves, having many pairs of leaflets. Flowers large, few, racemose. Legumes 1½ft. long. A mixture of loam, peat, and sand is most suitable. Young cuttings will root in a pot of sand, with a hand glass over them, placed in heat.
A. coccinea (scarlet).* fl. red, rather smaller than the next species. Legumes rather terete. l. leaflets powdery. July. h. 20ft. to 30ft. 1768.
A. grandiflora (large-flowered). fl. rosy red. July. Legumes evidently compressed. l. leaflets glabrous. h. 14ft. to 26ft. 1768.
A. g. flore-albo (white flowered). fl. white, double. N. Australia, 1869.
AGAVE (from agauos, admirable; referring to the stately form in which some of them flower). ORD. Amaryllidaceæ. Flower-scape tall, proceeding from the centre of the rosette of leaves; perianth funnel-shaped, six-parted. Leaves large, fleshy, tufted. Mr. B. S. Williams describes them as follows: "They are noble, massive-growing plants, and form magnificent ornaments in the greenhouse or conservatory; whilst, from their slow growth, they do not rapidly get too large, even for a small greenhouse. Indeed, some of the real gems of this genus are neat, compact-growing plants, seldom exceeding 2ft. in height. Besides being fine ornamental plants for indoor decoration, the larger growing kinds are unquestionably the finest objects for the embellishment of terrace-walks, or surmounting flights of steps in the open air during the summer season, and also for plunging in rockwork, or about any rustic nooks in the pleasure-grounds, as, in such situations, they are quite in keeping, and thrive admirably. As is well known, they attain maturity very slowly; but when this condition is reached, the plant sends up a flower spike, and, after perfecting this, dies." A. Sartorii, and a few others are, however, exceptional, and go on flowering year after year. It is certainly fallacious to suppose it takes them a hundred years to flower. Agaves succeed well potted in good loam and river sand, to which may be added a little peat and leaf mould for some of the smaller-growing kinds. The drainage should be good, as they enjoy a liberal supply of water during the summer season, but during winter considerably less will be required. They can be increased by suckers when these are to be obtained, and also by seeds, to secure the production of which, in the species that do not yield suckers, the flowers should be carefully impregnated. In the following descriptive list of species, only those of horticultural value are mentioned, some of which are still rare; and in describing them we have availed ourselves of Mr. J. G. Baker's excellent monograph, which appeared in the columns of the Gardener's Chronicle. Many are omitted, not from any deficiency in horticultural beauty, but because, in several instances, only one plant of a species is known to exist in cultivation, and such cannot, therefore, hope to become in general cultivation for many years hence.
A. albicans (whitened). Probably a variety of A. micrantha.
FIG. 45. AGAVE AMERICANA.
A. americana (American).* fl. yellowish green, 2in. to 3½in. long; in very dense globose clusters, on pedicels ¼in. to ½in. long; scape, including the thyrsoid panicle, 24ft. to 36ft. August. l. usually thirty to forty, sometimes more, in a rosette, oblanceolate-spathulate, 3ft. to 6ft. long, 6in. to 9in. broad above the middle, glaucous green, more or less concave all down the face, the outer leaves recurved, the dark brown pungent point 1in. to 2in. long; prickles brown tipped, 1/6in. to ¼in. long. S. America, 1640. See Fig. 45.
A. a. mexicana (Mexican). A variety much shorter in the leaves than the species, of which it may be regarded as one of the many small forms.
A. a. picta (painted).* l. 2ft. to 3ft. long, about 4in. wide, lower ones recurved, upper ones erect, moderately thick, rich golden yellow on both sides, bordered with dark green. A very splendid variety. SYN. A. ornata.
A. a. variegata (variegated). l. 6ft. or more in length, 6in. or 8in. wide, dark green in the centre, broadly margined with rich yellow. A very desirable variety.
A. amœna (pleasing). Referred to A. Scolymus.
A. amurensis (Amur River). Synonymous with A. xylacantha.
A. applanata (plano-convex-leaved). fl. unknown. l. twenty to forty in a dense sessile rosette, reaching a couple of feet in diameter, oblong-spathulate, 8in. to 12in. long, 2in. to 3½in. broad, the lower half of the face flat, the upper half concave, suddenly terminating in a pungent brown spine above 1in. long, blue-green bordered with brown; prickles ¼in. to ⅓in. long, bright brown. Mexico, 1869.
A. atrovirens (dark-green). Synonymous with A. Salmiana.
A. attenuata (attenuated).* fl. greenish-yellow, 2in. long; pedicels about ¼in. long, on a dense spike, 6ft. to 8ft. long, and 6in. in diameter; bracts overtopping the perianth. l. ten to twenty, in a dense rosette at the top of the stem, oblong-spathulate, 2ft. to 2½ft. long, 8in. to 9in. broad two-thirds of the way up, narrowed to 2½in. to 3in. above the base, persistently glaucous, one of the most fleshy of all in texture; face rather concave when young; tip not pungent, edge quite entire. Stem 4ft. to 7ft. high, 3in. to 4in. thick. Mexico, 1834. A most distinct species.
A. Beaucarnei (Beaucarne's). Synonymous with A. Kerchovei.
A. Botterii (Botteri's).* fl. greenish-yellow, about 1in. long, on a dense spike, longer than the leaves; primary bracts lanceolate, with a long point, the lower ones as long as the flowers; scape covered with adpressed lanceolate bracts. l. about fifty in a rosette, oblong-spathulate, about 2ft. long, 6in. broad above the middle, narrowed to 4½in. above the base; pale green, concave in the centre; spine hard, pungent, about ½in. long; marginal teeth crowded, ⅛in., upcurved at the tip. Stemless. Mexico, about 1865.
A. bulbifera (bulb-bearing). Synonymous with A. vivipara.
A. cæspitosa (tufted). Synonymous with A. Sartorii.
A. cantula. Synonymous with A. vivipara.
FIG. 46. AGAVE CELSIANA.