Agave americana
Agave americana subsp. americana
American agave, American century plant, centuryplant, maguey americano
American century plant, century plant, maguey
erect, spreading to ascending, occasionally reflexed, 80–200 × 15–25 cm;
blade light green to green or glaucous-gray, sometimes variegated or cross-zoned, narrowly to broadly lanceolate, smooth, rigid;
margins nearly straight or undulate to crenate, armed, teeth single, 5–10 mm, 1–4 cm apart;
apical spine dark brown to grayish, conical or subulate, 2–6 cm.
erect, ascending, or frequently reflexed, 100–200 × 15–25 cm;
blade light green to green or glaucous-gray, sometimes variegated yellow or whitish, especially in cultivated forms, sometimes cross-zoned, lanceolate, adaxially plane and somewhat guttered near base, abaxially convex near base;
margins straight or undulate to crenate, teeth 5–10 mm;
apical spine conical or subulate, 2–5 cm.
5–9 m. Inflorescences paniculate, not bulbiferous;
bracts persistent, triangular, 5–15 cm;
lateral branches 15–35, horizontal to slightly ascending, comprising distal 1/3–1/2 of inflorescence, longer than 10 cm.
5–9 m. Inflorescences: lateral branches 15–35.
erect, 7–10.5 cm;
perianth yellow, tube funnelform to cylindric, 8–20 × 12–20 mm, limb lobes erect, subequal, 20–35 mm;
stamens long-exserted;
filaments inserted above mid perianth tube, erect, yellow, 6–9 cm;
anthers yellow, 25–35 mm;
ovary 3–4.5 cm, neck constricted, 3–6(–8) mm.
7–10 cm;
perianth tube 8–20 × 12–20 cm;
ovary 3–4.5 cm.
short-pedicellate, oblong, 3.5–8 cm, apex beaked.
4–8 cm.
6–8 mm.
unknown.
Agave americana
Agave americana subsp. americana
Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).
Various chromosome numbers have been reported for Agave americana under a variety of names, typically without regard to the plant’s origin or its precise taxonomic disposition. Nonetheless, the species is most certainly a polyploid complex based on x = 30, with reports of n = 30 and 2n = 60, 120, and 180 documented by S. D. McKelvey and K. Sax (1933), H. Matsuura and T. Sutô (1935), E. B. Granick (1944), A. K. Sharma and U. C. Bhattacharyya (1962), M. S. Cave (1964), S. Banerjee and A. K. Sharma (1987), Huang S. F. et al. (1989) and B. Vijayavalli and P. M. Mathew (1990). Various dysploids have also been reported (A. F. Dyer et al. 1970; J. L. Strother and G. L. Nesom 1997). See H. S. Gentry (1982) for details.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Varieties 3 (2 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Leaves 80–135 cm, 4–6 times longer than wide; capsules 3.5–4 cm. | subsp. protamericana |
1. Leaves 100–200 cm, 6–10 times longer than wide; capsules 4–8 cm. | subsp. americana |
1. Apical leaf spine 3–5 cm, leaves frequently reflexed; Texas. | A. americana var. americana |
1. Apical leaf spine 2–3 cm, leaves erect; Arizona. | A. americana var. expansa |
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
