Agave americana |
Agave murpheyi |
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American agave, American century plant, centuryplant, maguey americano |
Hohokam agave, Murphey agave, Murphey's century plant |
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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, freely suckering; rosettes cespitose, 6–12 × 8–14 dm, open. | ||||
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. |
ascending, 50–80 × 6–10 cm; blade light glaucous green to yellow green, frequently lightly cross-zoned, spatulate, firm, adaxially concave toward apex, abaxially convex toward base; margins undulate, armed, teeth single, well defined, mostly 3–4 mm, ca. 1–2 cm apart; apical spine dark brown to grayish, conical, 1.2–2 cm. |
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Scape | 5–9 m. |
3–4 m. |
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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. |
narrowly paniculate, prolifically bulbiferous; bracts persistent, triangular, 10–15 cm; lateral branches 10–16, slightly ascending, comprising distal 1/4 of inflorescence, longer than 10 cm. |
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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. |
12–21 per cluster, erect, (5.1–)6–7.5 cm; perianth cream, apex purplish or brownish, tube urceolate, 14–20 × (11–)14–19 mm, limb lobes erect, unequal, (14–)15–20 mm; stamens long-exserted; filaments inserted unequally at or slightly above mid perianth tube, erect, yellow, (3.3–)4.5–5 cm; anthers yellow, (16–)22–25 mm; ovary (1.8–)2.2–4 cm, neck slightly constricted, (0.5–)4–6 mm. |
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Capsules | short-pedicellate, oblong, 3.5–8 cm, apex beaked. |
short-pedicellate, obovate to oblong or ovate, 5–7 cm, apex short-beaked. |
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Seeds | 6–8 mm. |
(7–)9–11 mm. |
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2n | = 60. |
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Agave americana |
Agave murpheyi |
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Phenology | Flowering late winter–spring. | |||||
Habitat | Near drainage systems in desert scrub | |||||
Elevation | 400–1000 m [1300–3300 ft] | |||||
Distribution |
sw United States; Mexico
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AZ; nw 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.) |
Of conservation concern. Agave murpheyi, used by the Hohokam for food, is known only from around pre-Columbian agricultural and settlement areas. The plants (including bulbils) are easily transported and transplanted. Agave murpheyi hybridizes with A. chrysantha in Arizona. (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. 456. | ||||
Parent taxa | ||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 323. (1753) | F. Gibson: Contr. Boyce Thompson Inst. Pl. Res. 7: 83, fig. 1. (1935) | ||||
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