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 Century plant - Definition 


Century Plant
Agave americana aureo-marginata
Century plant
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Plantae
Division:Magnoliophyta
Class:Liliopsida
Order:Asparagales
Family:Agavaceae
Genus:Agave
Genus:A. americana
Binomial name

Agave americana L.


The Century Plant or the American Century Plant (Agave americana) is an agave originally from Mexico but cultivated worldwide.

Century Plant in bloom
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Century Plant in bloom

It has a spreading rosette (up to 9 m wide) of gray-green leaves up to 2 meters (6 ft) long, each with a spiny margin and a heavy spike at the tip. Its common name derives from its habit of only occasionally flowering, but when it does, the spike with a cyme of big yellow flowers, may reach up to 8 meters (25 ft) in height. The plant dies after flowering. The average life-span is around 25 years.

Cultivated varieties include the 'Marginata' with yellow stripes along the margins of each leaf, 'Mediopicta' with a central light band, and 'Striata' with multiple stripes along the leaves.

It is also known as the American aloe, although it is not related to the true aloes.


Subspecies

    • Agave americana var. americana
    • Agave americana var. expansa
    • Agave americana var. latifolia
    • Agave americana var. marginata
    • Agave americana var. medio-picta
    • Agave americana var. oaxacensis
    • Agave americana ssp. protamericana
    • Agave americana var. striata

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fr:Agave americana

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Century plant".