Agave americana |
Agave lechuguilla |
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American agave, American century plant, centuryplant, maguey americano |
lecheguilla, lechuguilla |
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Habit | Plants acaulescent or short-stemmed, commonly suckering, trunks less than 2 m; rosettes not cespitose, 10–20 × 20–37 dm. | Plants acaulescent, frequently suckering; rosettes openly cespitose, 3–4 × 5–6 dm. | ||||
Leaves | 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. |
mostly ascending to erect, (25–)30–50 × 2–4(–5.2) cm; blade light green to yellowish green, sometimes checkmarked but without bud-prints, linear-lanceolate, stiff, adaxially concave toward apex, abaxially convex toward base; margins straight, easily detached, nonfiliferous, conspicuously armed, teeth single 2–6 mm, mostly (1–)2–4 cm apart, rarely absent; apical spine grayish, conical to subulate, 1.5–4.5 cm. |
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Scape | 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. |
(2–)2.5–3.5 m. Inflorescences spicate, densely flowered on distal 1/2; bracts caducous, linear, 1–3 cm; peduncle 2–5 mm, rarely 20–150 mm. |
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Flowers | 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. |
2–3 per cluster, erect to slightly recurved, (2.4–)3–4.5 cm; perianth yellow, frequently tinged with red or purple, tube campanulate, 1.5–4 × 6–12 mm, limb lobes ascending, subequal, 11–20 mm; stamens long-exserted; filaments inserted on rim of perianth tube, spreading, yellow to reddish, 2.5–4.2 cm; anthers pale yellow, (11–)15–20 mm; ovary (0.8–)1.5–2.2 cm, neck constricted (2–)4–8.5 mm. |
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Capsules | short-pedicellate, oblong, 3.5–8 cm, apex beaked. |
sessile or short-pedicellate, oblong, 1.8–2.5(–3) cm, apex beaked. |
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Seeds | 6–8 mm. |
4.5–6 mm. |
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2n | = 110–120. |
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Agave americana |
Agave lechuguilla |
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Phenology | Flowering mid spring–late summer. | |||||
Habitat | Gravelly to rocky calcareous places in desert scrub | |||||
Elevation | 500–1400 m (1600–4600 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
sw United States; Mexico
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NM; TX; n Mexico; e Mexico
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Discussion | 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.) |
Agave lechuguilla is the principal source of “istle” or “ixtle,” a hard fiber used for rope and known by the trade name “Tampico fibre.” The plant is poisonous to cattle, goats, and sheep. This species is the dominant agave on the Chihuahuan Desert. It hybridizes with A. havardiana, A. neomexicana, A. gracilipes, and A. ×glomeruliflora. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 452. | FNA vol. 26, p. 449. | ||||
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Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 323. (1753) | Torrey: in W. H. Emory, Rep. U.S. Mex. Bound. 2(1): 213. (1859) | ||||
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