Species

Agave americana

Etymology

Agave: From the Greek aganos 'noble', referring to its stately form when in flower
americana: of South America

Common Name(s)

century plant

Family

Agavaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

NVS Species Code

AGAAME

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

Structural Class

Monocotyledonous Herbs

Habitat

Terrestrial. Thrives in dry conditions, coastal cliffs, sand dunes.

Features

Very large perennial plant with rosette growth form. The leaves are up to 2 m long, are fleshy and triangular in cross section. The leaves are leathery, glaucous and have coarse teeth on the margins. Leaves are usually dull green, although a variegated form is also present. After 10 to 15 years vegetative growth it produces a large woody spike (scape) up to 10 m tall with a terminal panicle of many yellow flowers. Black seeds are produced in 5 cm long capsules.

Similar Taxa

Very distinctive plant. Is similar to Furcrea foetida, but Agave does not produce bulbils and does not have a trunk at all. Other rosette form herbs are present in NZ e.g.. Beschcorneria yuccoides, but none are as large or as well armed as Agave americana.

Flowering

February, March.

Flower Colours

Yellow

Year Naturalised

1869

Origin

Mexico

Reason For Introduction
Ornamental

Life Cycle Comments
Perennial. rosettes last for 10-15 years, they die after flowering and are replaced by lateral rosettes

Reproduction
Spreads both vegetatively and by seed.

Seed
Seeds are produced in panicles high on the flowering scape.

Dispersal
Gravity, humans

Tolerances
Tolerates salt and very dry conditions.

This page last updated on 18 Jan 2010