AGAVE, the common American aloe: A genus of the monogynia order, belonging to the hexandria class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 10th order, Coronarie. The characters are: There is no calyx: The corolla is monopetalous and funnel-shaped; the border six-parted, with lanced erect divisions; The stamens consist of six erect filaments, longer than the corolla; the anthers are linear, shorter than the filaments, and versatile: The pistillum is an oblong germen; the stylus is filiform, the length of the stamens, and triangular; the stigma headed and triangular: The pericarpium is an oblong triangular capsule, trilocular and three-valved: The seeds are numerous. Of this genus, botanical writers enumerate eight species.
Of the Americana, or great American aloe, the stems generally rise upwards of 20 feet high, and branch out on every side towards the top, so as to form a kind of pyramid: the slender shoots being garnished with greenish yellow flowers, which stand erect, and come out in thick clusters at every joint: these make a fine appearance, and continue long in beauty; a succession of new flowers being produced for near three months in favourable seasons, if the plant is protected from the autumnal colds. The seeds do not ripen in England. It has been generally thought, that these plants do not flower till they are 100 years old: but this is a mistake; for the time of their flowering depends on their growth: so that in hot countries, where they grow fast, and ex-
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and many leaves every season, they will flower in a few years; but in colder climates, where their growth is slow, it will be much longer before they shoot up their stem. There is a variety of this species with striped leaves, which are pretty common in the English gardens. The other sorts are so tender, that they must constantly remain in the stove.