Plantae > Tracheophyta > Liliopsida > Asparagales > Asparagaceae > Agave > Agave americana
 

Agave americana (American century plant)

Synonyms: Agave spectabilis; Aloe americana

Wikipedia Abstract

Agave americana, commonly known as the century plant, maguey, or American aloe (although it is in a different family from the Aloe), is an agave originally from Mexico but cultivated worldwide as an ornamental plant. It has since naturalised in many regions and grows wild in Europe, South Africa, India, and Australia.
View Wikipedia Record: Agave americana

Infraspecies

Agave americana subsp. americana (Attributes)
Agave americana subsp. protamericana (Attributes)
Agave americana var. expansa
Agave americana var. oaxacensis

Invasive Species

Agave americana is a large, rhizomatous succulent that grows in a wide range of conditions including cliffs, urban areas, woodlands, grasslands, riparian zones, beaches and sandy areas, and rocky slopes. A. americana is tolerant of wind, salt, high temperatures, and extreme drought. It can grow in shallow, very dry, low fertility soil and can colonise bare sand. It is grown for many reasons- ornamental, medicinal and agricultural. In South Australia Agave americana mainly invades disturbed sites, road sides and coastal vegetation. It may also harbour introduced animal species, such as rabbits, making feral animal control more difficult.
View ISSG Record: Agave americana

Attributes

Height [3]  24 feet (7.5 m)
Width [3]  8.2 feet (2.5 m)
Allergen Potential [1]  Medium-Low
Screening - Summer [2]  Dense
Screening - Winter [2]  Dense
Hardiness Zone Minimum [2]  USDA Zone: 8 Low Temperature: 10 F° (-12.2 C°) → 20 F° (-6.7 C°)
Light Preference [2]  Full Sun
Soil Acidity [2]  Neutral
Soil Fertility [2]  Infertile
Water Use [2]  Low
Flower Color [2]  Yellow
Foliage Color [2]  Green
Fruit Color [2]  Brown
Fall Conspicuous [2]  Yes
Bloom Period [2]  Indeterminate
Drought Tolerance [2]  High
Edible [3]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Fire Tolerance [2]  Low
Flower Type [3]  Hermaphrodite
Frost Free Days [2]  10 months
Fruit/Seed Abundance [2]  Low
Growth Form [2]  Single Crown
Growth Period [2]  Spring, Summer, Fall
Growth Rate [2]  Slow
Hazards [3]  Contact with the fresh sap can cause dermatitis in sensitive people; The plants have a very sharp and tough spine at the tip of each leaf. They need to be carefully sited in the garden.
Leaf Type [3]  Evergreen
Lifespan [3]  Perennial
Pollinators [3]  Lepidoptera, Bats
Propagation [2]  Bare Root, Container, Seed, Sprig
Regrowth Rate [2]  Slow
Root Depth [2]  29 inches (76 cm)
Seed Spread Rate [2]  Slow
Seed Vigor [2]  Low
Seeds Per [2]  15000 / lb (33069 / kg)
Shape/Orientation [2]  Semi-Erect
Structure [4]  Shrub
Usage [3]  The plant contains saponins. An extract of the leaves is used as a soap; The roots are used according to another report; It is likely that the root is the best source of the saponins that are used to make a soap; Chop up the leaves or the roots into small pieces and then simmer them in water to extract the saponins. Do not over boil or you will start to break down the saponins; There is a report that the plant has insecticidal properties, but further details are not given; A very strong fibre obtained from the leaves is used for making rope, coarse fabrics etc; A paper can also be made from the leaves; The thorns on the leaves are used as pins and needles; The dried flowering stems are used as a waterproof thatch; The plants are used in land-reclamation schemes in arid areas of the world;
Vegetative Spread Rate [2]  None
View Plants For A Future Record : Agave americana

Protected Areas

Name IUCN Category Area acres Location Species Website Map Climate Land Use
Canaveral National Seashore II 9090 Florida, United States
Everglades and Dry Tortugas Biosphere Reserve   Florida, United States  
Isles of Scilly Complex 66350 England, United Kingdom    
Parco Del Somma-Vesuvio e Miglio D'Oro National Park II 33648 Italy
PUNTA ENTINAS-SABINAR 4806 Spain  

Predators

Aonidiella aurantii (California red scale)[5]
Aonidiella orientalis (Oriental Scale)[5]
Aspidiotus nerii (ivy scale)[6]
Ceroplastes cirripediformis (barnacle scale)[5]
Ischnaspis longirostris (black line scale)[5]
Ovaticoccus agavium (agave ovaticoccin)[5]
Parasaissetia nigra (nigra scale)[6]
Parlatoreopsis longispina (Asiatic pomegranate scale)[5]
Parlatoria crypta (mango white scale)[5]
Pinnaspis strachani (lesser snow scale)[5]
Planococcus kraunhiae (Japanese mealybug)[5]
Prionococcus fonatanai <Unverified Name>[5]
Pseudococcus agavis[5]
Saissetia coffeae (brown scale)[5]

Distribution

S. U.S.A. to Mexico;

External References

USDA Plant Profile

Photos

Citations

Species recognized by Govaerts R., 06-Jan-2005, WCSP: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families in Catalog of Life 2011
Attributes / relations provided by ♦ 1Derived from Allergy-Free Gardening OPALS™, Thomas Leo Ogren (2000) ♦ 2USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture ♦ 3Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons License ♦ 4Kattge, J. et al. (2011b) TRY - a global database of plant traits Global Change Biology 17:2905-2935 ♦ 5Ben-Dov, Y., Miller, D.R. & Gibson, G.A.P. ScaleNet 4 November 2009 ♦ 6Biological Records Centre Database of Insects and their Food Plants
Invasive Status provided by Global Invasive Species Database Downloaded on 10 May 2011.
Protected Areas provided by Biological Inventories of the World's Protected Areas in cooperation between the Information Center for the Environment at the University of California, Davis and numerous collaborators. ♦ GBIF Global Biodiversity Information Facility ♦ Natura 2000, UK data: © Crown copyright and database right [2010] All rights reserved. Ordnance Survey Licence number 100017955
Images provided by Google Image Search
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Weather provided by NOAA METAR Data Access