Agave MACROACANTHA - Black-spined agave, Large-thorned agave, Agave macroacantha.
Agave is a genus of evergreen perennial herbaceous plants in the family Asparagaceae, comprising about 300 species distributed on the Caribbean islands and in arid regions of North, Central, and South America. In cultivation, no more than 50 species are widespread.
Representatives of the genus form rosettes of fleshy leaves, often with prickly margins and sharp tips. Leaves can be broad or narrow, colored in gray-green, glaucous, or green shades, sometimes with variegated coloration. The stem, as a rule, is shortened. The plants are adapted to prolonged droughts, spreading outward with powerful roots, absorbing moisture from surface soil layers and storing it in the leaves.
Flowering occurs at 15-20 years of age, after which the plant dies. A tall flower stalk emerges from the rosette of robust leaves, bearing at its top an inflorescence in the form of a panicle or raceme, usually yellow or cream-colored. The fruits are capsules with flat seeds. After seed maturation, the aerial parts of the mother plant die off, and daughter offshoots grow from the rhizomes.
Black-spined agave is one of the most ornamental species. In addition, when grown indoors, it retains modest dimensions and rarely exceeds 40 cm (16 in) in diameter. Dense, fleshy, broadly lanceolate leaves are gathered into a very neat rosette. Closer to the outer margin, the leaf blades are adorned with dense spines, and the apex is crowned with a formidable large sharp spine up to 3 cm (1.2 in) long. This species is often classified as a collector's plant due to its unique leaf coloration, which varies from various shades of green to steel-gray and nearly blue.