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Furcraea foetida

(Mauritius Hemp)

Overview

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Giant rosette plant from South America with leaves up to 8 feet long, the stem elongating only when the tall (15-30 feet) flowering stalk is produced . Widely cultivated for fiber.

Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Furcraea, Giant Cabuya, Green-Aloe, Maguey, Mauritius Hemp, Mauritius-Hemp, Sisal

Common Names in French:

Aloès Vert, Chanvre De Maurice

Common Names in German:

Mauritiushanf

Common Names in Spanish:

Cáñamo De Mauritania, Pita Floja, Pita Gigante

Description

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Family Agavaceae

Plants usually perennial , occasionally epiphytic, sometimes monocarpic or polycarpic, monoecious, dioecious, or polygamodioecious, small to gigantic, sometimes arborescent , usually scapose . Stems subterranean or aboveground, sometimes branched. Leaves simple , annual or long-lived, in terminal rosettes or occasionally cauline, sessile or occasionally pseudo-petiolate; blade linear , lanceolate, oblanceolate , ovate , or elliptic , fibrous , thin and flexible , thick and rigid or succulent, or fibrous, often glaucous, margins entire, serrulate , dentate , denticulate , corneous , or filiferous , apex rigid or flexible, sometimes pungent , often with short or long spine. Inflorescences terminal or axillary spikes, racemose or paniculate , sometimes umbellate , bracteate , often huge; bracts ascending or erect , occasionally reflexed , leaflike proximally, scalelike distally. Flowers 6-merous, bisexual or functionally unisexual ; perianth of 2 similar petallike whorls, semisucculent; tepals distinct or connate into tube , apex glandular or glandular-pubescent ; stamens included or exserted; filaments often broadened and succulent, glabrous , pubescent , or papillose ; anthers versatile, dehiscence longitudinal ; ovary superior or inferior, 3-locular or occasionally 1-locular, 3-angled, ovoid , or cylindrical, with axillary or rarely parietal placentation ; style included or exserted; stigmas 1 or 3, 3-lobed or capitate; pedicel usually distinct, articulate or not, rarely absent. Fruits occasionally baccate , usually capsular and sometimes winged or lobed , or indehiscent and dry or fleshy . Seeds 1€“3(€“many) per locule, flattened, 3-angled, hemispheric , ovoid, obovoid , or globose .

Genera 17 or 18, species ca. 550 (9 genera, 84 species in the flora ; 2 genera, 6 species introduced) : worldwide, primarily arid , semitropical, subtropical , and tropical regions .

There is little agreement on the treatment of Agavaceae. The group containing Agave, Yucca, Furcraea, Hesperaloe, and Manfreda generally has been accepted as the core of Agavaceae, or as subfamilies Agavoideae and Yuccoideae, but treatment of Dracaena, Sansevieria, Cordyline, Nolina, and Dasylirion has been varied. A. L. Takhtajan (1987) and R. F. Thorne (1992b) placed these genera in Dracaenaceae but treated them at different levels. Takhtajan located them in the subfamily Dracaenoideae within sections Nolineae (Nolina and Dasylirion), Sansevierieae (Sansevieria), and Dracaeneae (Cordyline and Dracaena) . Thorne, on the other hand, placed these same groupings at the subfamily level. R. M. T. Dahlgren et al. (1985) recognized them as separate families, Nolinaceae (Nolina and Dasylirion), Dracaenaceae (Sansevieria and Dracaena), and Asteliaceae (Cordyline), in addition to the Agavaceae (Yucca, Hesperaloe, Agave, Manfreda, and Furcraea) .

A. Cronquist (1981) based his broadly circumscribed Agavaceae on a common xerophytic habit. However, the karyotype of 5 long and 25 short chromosomes for the Agavoideae and Yuccoideae is distinct from the karyotypes of the other subfamilies that Cronquist included in the Agavaceae. Current research on the phylogenetics of moncotyledons, using DNA sequences of rbcL , support the separation of Dracaena, Nolina, and Dasylirion from Agavaceae (M. R. Duvall et al. 1993b) . We believe that a broad interpretation of the Agavaceae unites groups that should be recognized as separate.

Many genera in Agavaceae are economically important. All genera in the Agavoideae and Yuccoideae contain steroidal sapogenins ; some have been used in folk medicine, and locally and commercially as soap (G. Blunden et al. 1978; S. E. Verhoek 1978; M. Wall et al. 1957) . They provide fibers for cordage, baskets, and hats, as well as food and drink for many indigenous peoples of the southwestern United States (H. S. Gentry 1982) . They are also used as commercial fiber and beverage crops in Latin America and the Old World (H. Brucher 1989) . In the southern United States, some species in each genus are cultivated and represented in the flora, and at least one species of Yucca is now grown as far north as Canada. Collectors should record the uses of these plants in their notes along with the critical information on plant habit and morphology. Photographs are often important tools for the identification of these plants, and, with the advent of digital cameras , are now much easier to obtain and process .[1]

Genus Furcraea

Plants massive multiannuals, scapose ; trunks usually absent, to 6 m when present. Stems aboveground. Leaves up to 50, broad or narrowly lanceolate, to 3.3 m, rigid or flexible , very fibrous , margins with small or large corneous teeth, mature apex a firm, blunt point . Inflorescences paniculate , to 13 m, frequently producing bulblets. Flowers in clusters of 2-5, drooping ; tepals spreading , distinct except at base , greenish or white, ovate to oblong , longer than stamens and styles; filaments abruptly expanded below middle ; ovary inferior; style dilated and 3-lobed proximal to middle; stigma 3-lobed. Fruits capsular , globose to cylindrical, to 8 cm, infrequently produced . Seeds many, black, flat, 2 rows per locule. x = 30.

Species ca. 22: introduced ; Mexico, Central America, West Indies, South America.

A number of Furcraea species are cultivated in warm climates worldwide as ornamentals and for cordage from leaf fibers. Reproduction by bulblets from the inflorescence is common.

Furcraea was divided by J. R. Drummond (1907) into three variable groups based on leaf margins. Plants of two of these groups are reported to persist or reproduce locally in southern Florida. Specimens are scarce. Within Furcraea there is a large synonymy , including names that are difficult to apply with certainty because they are based on incomplete specimens or European cultivated material .[2]

Physical Description

Species Furcraea foetida

Leaves lanceolate, to 2.4 m × 20 cm, thick, firm, smooth or striate ; margins hard and smooth, usually entire at least in distal half. Flowers 4-5 cm; tepals greenish white, 2.3-3 cm; ovary 1.2-1.5 cm. 2n = 60. [source]

Specimens from Florida referred to in the literature as Furcraea cabuya Trelease with entire leaf margins (var. integra Trelease) probably belong here. [source]

Habit: Subshrub , Forb/herb

Flowers: Bloom Period: August, September, October, December. • Flower Color: green, near white, white

Size/Age/Growth

Size: 24-36" tall.

Habitat

Old homesteads in disturbed areas; 0 m ; introduced [3].

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 36-48" apart.

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Sun to Partial Shade.

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 9b, 10a, 10b, 11. (map)

Taxonomy

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Unambiguous Synonyms

  1. Agave foetida L.
  2. Agave foetida Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 323. 1753
  3. Furcraea gigantea Ventenat

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000.

Place of publication : Syn. pl. succ. 73. 1812.

Name verified on 06-Nov-1985 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 23-Aug-1994.

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Furcraea

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 68 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

F. acaulis · F. agavephylla · F. aitoni · F. albispina · F. altissima · F. andina · F. antillana · F. aspera · F. atroviridis · F. australis · F. bedinghausii · F. boliviensis · F. cabuya · F. cabuya var. integra · F. cahum · F. cantula · F. commelyni · F. cubensis · F. cubensis var. inermis · F. deledevanti · F. demouliniana · F. depauperata · F. elegans · F. foetida (Mauritius Hemp) · F. foetida 'Mediopicta' (Mauritius Hemp) · F. foetida var. mediopicta (Variegated Green Aloe) · F. foetida 'Variegata' · F. geminispina · F. gigantea · F. guatemalensis · F. guerrerensis · F. hexapetala (Cuban Hemp) · F. hexapetala var. marginata · F. humboldtiana · F. interrupta · F. ixtli · F. lindeni · F. lipsiensis · F. longaeva · F. macdougalii · F. macdougallii (Furcraea) · F. macra · F. macrophylla (Big-Leaf Sisal) · F. madagascariensis · F. martinezii · F. melanodonta · F. niquivilensis · F. occidentalis · F. parmentieri (Furcraea) · F. pubescens · F. quicheensis · F. rigida · F. roezlii (Furcraea) · F. samalana · F. selloa (Wild Sisal) · F. selloa var. marginata · F. sisaliana · F. sobolifera · F. spinosa · F. stratiotes · F. stricta · F. tuberosa (Female Karata) · F. tubiflora · F. undulata · F. valleculata · F. variegata · F. viridis · F. watsoniana

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 24, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Susan Verhoek & William J. Hess "Agavaceae". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 51, 303, 413, 414. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. Susan Verhoek "Furcraea". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 413, 414, 461. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. "Furcraea foetida". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 461, 462. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
Last Revised: 7/1/2009