Agave AMERICANA - American agave, Century plant, Agave americana.
The genus Agave includes about 300 species distributed across the Caribbean islands, Central America, and the southern United States. In cultivation, no more than 50 species of this remarkable plant can be found.
Agaves were introduced to Europe in the second half of the 16th century and quickly spread as exotic, ornamental plants. In Mediterranean countries and on the Black Sea coast of Crimea and the Caucasus, they are grown in open ground; in temperate and northern latitudes, as greenhouse and indoor plants. This is one of the most ancient cultivated plants.
The homeland of agaves is America, primarily the semi-desert and wasteland regions of Mexico. It was named after Agave, the daughter of an ancient mythical king. Translated from Greek, it means noble, remarkable, admirable. Agaves are long-lived plants.
It is commonly believed that they live up to 100 years and bloom only once in their lifetime. In fact, their flowering occurs at 15-20 years of age, after which the plant dies. A flowering agave is an impressive sight. A flower stalk emerges from the rosette of robust leaves, forming at its apex a spike- or panicle-like inflorescence consisting of thousands of yellowish flowers. After seed maturation, the aerial parts of the mother plant die off, and offsets sprout from the rhizomes.
American agave is a perennial plant up to 2.5 m (8.2 ft) high and 2 m (6.6 ft) wide. Leaves are grayish, smooth, broadly linear, fibrous, with spiny and dissected margins. Flowers are greenish-yellow, arranged in horizontal branches.