agave
Agave deserti

Family: Liliaceae.

Type: Perennial plant.

Leaves: Leaves are succulent in most agaves. Leaf margins are toothed for protection. Leaves grow in a rosette, like yucca.

Fruit & Flower: A tall inflorescence is produced, as in yucca, but agave is semelparous: the whole plant (the rosette that generated the inflorescence, that is) dies after flowering. Members of this genus can take as long as a hundred years to sequester sufficient resources for flowering, and then flower and die in one year, giving them the name of "century plants". Plants that flower multiple times in their life, on the other hand, are referred to as iteroparous.

Miscellaneous: Found in deserts in southern California. In both agave and yucca, roots can spread out and grow new plants, producing clusters of rosettes on the ground. Agave is used to make tequila.





All photos and text ©2008 Ben Haller. Permission is granted to use and reproduce these photos for any non-commercial or non-profit use as long as this original copyright notice is retained.