View source for Furcraea

{{Treatment/ID
|accepted_name=Furcraea
|accepted_authority=Ventenat
|publications={{Treatment/Publication
|title=Bull. Sci. Soc. Philom. Paris
|place=1: 65. 1793
|year=1793
}}
|common_names=Mauritius hemp;pita;cabuya;cahum
|basionyms=
|synonyms=
|hierarchy=Agavaceae;Furcraea
|hierarchy_nav=<div class="higher-taxa"><div class="higher-taxon"><small>family</small>[[Agavaceae]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>genus</small>[[Furcraea]]</div></div>
|etymology=for Antoine François de Fourcroy, 1755–1809, French chemist who helped establish the system of chemical nomenclature
|volume=Volume 26
|mention_page=page 413, 414
|treatment_page=page 461
}}<!--

--><span class="statement" id="st-undefined" data-properties=""><b>Plants </b>massive multiannuals, scapose; trunks usually absent, to 6 m when present. <b>Stems</b> aboveground. <b>Leaves</b> 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. <b>Inflorescences</b> paniculate, to 13 m, frequently producing bulblets. <b>Flowers</b> 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. <b>Fruits</b> capsular, globose to cylindrical, to 8 cm, infrequently produced. <b>Seeds</b> many, black, flat, 2 rows per locule. <b>x</b> = 30.</span><!--

-->{{Treatment/Body
|distribution=Mexico;Central America;West Indies;South America.
|discussion=<p>Species ca. 22 (2 in the flora).</p><!--
--><p>A number of <i>Furcraea</i> species are cultivated in warm climates worldwide as ornamentals and for cordage from leaf fibers. Reproduction by bulblets from the inflorescence is common.</p><!--
--><p><i>Furcraea</i> 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 <i>Furcraea</i> 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.</p><!--
--><p>R. W. Long and O. Lakela (1971) mentioned <i>Furcraea</i> macrophylla Baker as an ornamental that possibly persists in old sites, but I have seen no herbarium specimens that document its presence in Florida. That species is marked by larger leaves with larger, horny, hooked teeth.</p>
|tables=
|references={{Treatment/Reference
|id=drummond1907a
|text=Drummond, J. R. 1907. The literature of Furcraea with a synopsis of the known species. Rep. (Annual) Missouri Bot. Gard. 18: 25–75.
}}{{Treatment/Reference
|id=trelease1910a
|text=Trelease, W. 1910. Observations on Furcraea. Ann. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg, Suppl. 3: 905–915.
}}
}}<!--

--><div class="treatment-key">
==Key==
<div class="treatment-key-group">
  
{| class="wikitable fna-keytable"
|-id=key-0-1
|1
|Leaves smooth or striate, margins usually entire at least in distal half.
|[[Furcraea foetida|Furcraea foetida]]
|-id=key-0-1
|1
|Leaves roughened by small points, margins with hard, curved teeth.
|[[Furcraea selloa|Furcraea selloa]]
|}
</div></div><!--

-->{{#Taxon:
name=Furcraea
|author=Susan Verhoek
|authority=Ventenat
|rank=genus
|parent rank=family
|synonyms=
|basionyms=
|family=Agavaceae
|distribution=Mexico;Central America;West Indies;South America.
|introduced=true
|reference=drummond1907a;trelease1910a
|publication title=Bull. Sci. Soc. Philom. Paris
|publication year=1793
|special status=
|source xml=https://jpend@bitbucket.org/aafc-mbb/fna-data-curation.git/src/f50eec43f223ca0e34566be0b046453a0960e173/coarse_grained_fna_xml/V26/V26_966.xml
|genus=Furcraea
}}<!--

-->[[Category:Treatment]][[Category:Agavaceae]]