Country of origin: United States (southern California, western Arizona), Mexico (northern Sonora)
Description
Among members of genus Agave, has medium-size seeds and is an evergreen succulent plant with a rosette height of 30–50 m and width of 40–61 cm. Leaf width is 6.5–10 cm and length 25–40 cm. The leaves are light green, bluish gray, or pale bluish green and have a lanceolate shape and large serrated teeth on the edges of the leaves. The flower stalk is 2.4–4m. Is a CAM plant and has xerotolerance, heat tolerance, and cold tolerance (capable of growing at –15°C or higher), but has poor moisture tolerance. It often grows alone and does not form clusters. It does not produce many new bulbs. In its natural habitat, large ones have new bulbs immediately before maturity, but they often wither. Propagation is performed by seeding and new bulbs.
The fruit contains toxic sapogenins, but almost none are contained in the leaves or stalk. Indigenous peoples used the leaf, flower, and flower stalk for food and fiber.
References
Gentry, H.S. 1982. Agaves of Continental North America. The University
of Texas Press, Tuscon, Arizona, USA.
Gibson, A.C. 1996. Structure-Function Relations of Warm Desert Plants.
Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, Germany.
Irish, M., Irish, G. 2000. Agave, Yuccas, and Related Plants: A Gardener’s
Guide. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon, USA. Nobel, P.S. 1988. Environmental Biology of Agaves and Cacti. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
