A flora of Manila - Rainforestation

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1. Inflorescence spicate or panicled.
A FLORA OF MANILA
2. Coarse plants with thick, fleshy, spiny-toothed leaves and very large,
panicled inflorescences 1. Agave
2. Slender plants with narrow, toothless leaves and spicate flowers.
1. Flowers solitary or umbellate.
2. Filaments free.
2. Polianthes
3. Flowers solitai*y 3. Zephyranthes
3. Flowers umbellate 4. Crinum
2. Filaments appendiculate and united at the base into a distinct cup.
3. Flowers solitary 5. Pancratium
3. Flowers umbellate.
4. Leaves linear to linear-lanceolate; ovary-cells 2-ovuled.
6. Hymenocallis
4. Leaves broadly ovate to suborbicular; ovary-cells 2- or 3-ovuled.
7. Eurycles
4. Leaves elliptic-oblong; ovary-cells many-ovuled 8. Eucharis
1. AGAVE Linnaeus
Fleshy or somewhat woody, coarse plants, with usually very short stems.
Leaves crowded on the stem, radiate, thick, fleshy, persisting for several
years, sharply pointed, margins with stout spiny teeth. Inflorescence
terminal, tall, stout, branched. Flowers succulent, panicled, usually greenish.
Sepals and petals partly united, the lobes equal or subequal. Stamens
6 ; filaments more or less adnate to the • perianth-tube. Ovary 3-celled
ovules numerous. Fruit a 3-celled capsule. (Greek "noble.")
Species about 140 in tropical America, 1 introduced in the Philippines.
*1. A. CANTULA Roxb. Maguey (Sp.-Fil.) ; Sisal Hemp, Century Plant,
Stems short, stout. Leaves 20 to 50 in a dense rosette, linear-lanceolate,
thick, more or less glaucous, 0.8 to 1.3 m long, up to 8 or 10 cm wide,
narrowed toward both ends, apex with a sharp, horny point, margins
with sharp spine-like teeth. Inflorescence erect, up to 6 m in height, stout,
branched. Flowers greenish, the perianth 4 to 5 cm long; filaments exceeding
the segments. (Fl. Filip. pi. 96, A. americana.)
Cultivated in our area for ornamental purposes, in many provinces extensively
cultivated for the fiber produced by the leaves. The plants
flower when several years old; bulbils are often produced in place of
flowers. A native of tropical America, now introduced in many other
tropical countries.
2. POLIANTHES Linnaeus
Erect, leafy, unbranched plants from tuberous rootstocks. Leaves linear,
basal and scattered along the stem. Inflorescence terminal, spicate, the
bracts persistent. Perianth with a long, narrowly funnel-shaped, curved
tube, and short, unequal segments. Stamens inserted at the middle of the
tube, not exserted. Ovary 3-celled, free at the apex ; ovules many ; style filiform.
Fruit ovoid, crowned by the persistent perianth. (Greek "white"
and "flower.")
A monotypic Mexican genus.
* 1. P. TUBEROSA L. Azucena (Sp.-Fil.) ; Tuberose.
Rootstock stout, tuberous. Basal leaves linear, 40 to 60 cm long, less
than 1 cm wide, those on the stem much shorter. Stems erect, 0.5 to 1
;