AGAVACEAE
NB Is presently considered a synonym of Asparagaceae
Morphological description
Woody; leaves crowded at the end of the stem.
Leaves, simple, usually linear, entire, parallel veined. Leaves spine-tipped (Yucca*).
Flowers
Flowers bisexual, actinomorphic; tepals 6, stamens 6, free; ovary 3-locular.
Spot characters (Van Balgooy):
Monocarpic planta (Agave), Schopfbäume growth form (Dracaena, Cordyline), bulbils (Furcraea, Yucca).
Different from: Liliaceae: not woody, leaves rarely crowded.
Distribution: The family is widespread. In Malesia only 3 native genera, including: Dracaena (Pleomele) with several species in secondary and primary forest mainly in the lowland. Several genera represented by introduced species.
Notes: Several species cultivated as ornamentals belonging to: Agave*, Aloe*, Cordyline, Dracaena, Polianthes* and Yucca*. - Hanguana is treated under Flagellariaceae by Backer in Fl. Males. I, 4 (1951) 245-250; it is also regarded as a member of Xanthorrhoeaceae or as a separate family, Hanguanaceae.
Literature : C.A. Backer & R.C. Bak- huizen van den Brink, Fl. Java 3 (1968) 157-165; L. Pedley & P. I. Forster, Fl. Austral. 46 (1986) 71-88).
Images in PhytoImages for Asparagaceae
Illustrations: Fig. 5. Dracaena (Pleomele) angustifolia Roxb. (Agavaceae). Reproduced from J. J. Ochse & R. C. Bakhuizen van den Brink, Vegetables of the Dutch East Indies (1980) fig. 285.