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The word Agave means "noble" (from the Greek word agaue).
There are about 200 species of Agave. Most Agaves consist of rosettes of thick, hard, rigid but succulent leaves often with marginal teeth and usually with a lethally sharp terminal spine. 136 species of agave are found in north America. The greatest diversity of Agaves in the US is found in the state of Arizona, home to 12 species, many of which have several forms and subspecies. There are 5 species that we are most likely to find on our hiking trips.
Golden-flowered Agave
Golden-flowered Agave
Golden-flowered Agave (Agave chrysantha). Leaves are grayish green or bluish green in color, convex underneath and strongly concave on top, edged by small teeth between half and just over one inch apart. Leaves narrow to a sharp, brownish, grooved spine. Mature plants form a rosette 5 feet wide and 3 feet tall, and when blooming produce a very tall stalk up to 21 feet tall bearing clusters of brilliant yellow flowers. It grows in sandy to gravelly places on granitic or volcanic soils in desert scrub, grasslands, pinyon-juniper, and oak woodlands. It has a noticeable musky coconut aroma when the flowers bloom. This species is found in the mountains of central Arizona from about 2,500 to 6,500'. It grows over a relatively small area of central Arizona, at the upper reaches of the Sonoran Desert; it may be seen in such locations as the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix.
Desert Agave
Desert Agave
Desert Agave (Agave deserti) Century Plant Desert century-plant’s succulent, sword-like, blue-green leaves with sharp, marginal teeth and a stiff, terminal spine form a basal clump 2 ft. high and up to 6 ft. wide. When the plants are 8-20 years old they send up a sturdy, 6-9 foot flowering stalk bearing large, mounded clusters of pale yellow, tubular flowers. After setting fruit, the entire plant dies. The dried seed capsules remain conspicuous for many months. It is one of the most drought-tolerant of the 136 species of agave found in north America, and grows on stony terrain. The starchy core of this succulent plant was baked in rock-lined pits by Native Americans to form a nutritious energy-rich staple food. Baked agave can still be purchased in Mexican markets.
Palmer's Century Plant
Palmer's Century Plant
Palmer's Century Plant (Agave palmeri) grows at 3000 - 6000 feet above sea level and prefers limestone soils. It is the largest Agave species growing in the United States. It produces a basal leaf rosette of fleshy, upright green leaves of up to 4 feet in length, with reddish, recurved, spine-like teeth, and ending in thick spines of 1.2–2.4 inches long. Flowers are pale yellow and green and 1.6–2 inches long and grow on branches in the upper third of the flower spike, which can be up to 16.5 feet tall. Uses include production of Mezcal from the starchy core and fiber from the leaves. The growing bud can be roasted and eaten. Picture of spine tip taken from fireflyforest.net
Parry's Agave
Parry's Agave
Parry's Agave (Agave parryi) is a rosette-forming perennial succulent that is native to grasslands, chaparral, desert scrub, pinyon-juniper and oak woodlands in Arizona. It grows at elevations of 1500 - 8000 feet above sea level. The leaves are grey green and have a spine at the tip. Thick, rigid, smooth, ovate to oblong, blue-gray leaves (to 12” long) form a large, dense, symmetrical, basal rosette. A rosette will typically mature over time to 2' tall by 3' wide. Each leaf has spiny margins with a one inch terminal spine. Suckers/offsets root at the base of the rosette forming over time a colony of rosettes. One of the distinguishing features is that the point on the tip, which is typically dark tan, brown, or black, is darker than the leaf. Indentations of previous leaves show on the back of each leaf. Each rosette will flower only once, usually at some point between 10-15 years (not the 100 years suggested by the also-used common name of century plant used for some agaves), but sometimes flowering will not occur until 20-30 years. One huge flowering stalk (to 20' tall) will rise from each rosette, with each stalk producing 20 to 30 side branches and with each side branch containing a large cluster of creamy yellow flowers.
Agave Toumeyana
Agave Toumeyana
Agave Toumeyana grows up to 1 ft tall in dense clumps at elevations of up to 4500 feet in central Arizona. The leaf margins are smooth or with tiny teeth and markedly filamentous. The inflorescence is up to 8 ft tall with greenish-yellow flowers. Found in Arizona only this species has narrow, green leaves with white marginal filaments. It forms small rosettes about 8 - 10 inches across, which offset to form large colonies. It is restricted to the eastern slope of the Bradshaw Mountains, eastern Yavapai county, Gila County, northeastern Maricopa county and northern Pinal County. It occurs in rocky hillsides, highland desert mesas, chaparral, or lower pine forest on open gravelly to rocky limestone or basalt slopes, mostly with desert scrub, chaparral, and pinyon juniper woodlands. These photos were taken on the Barnhardt Canyon trail on March 2, 2016.
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