Some agaves wait 60 years to flower, then die
The 'century plant' does not really take a century, but some agave varieties live 60 years before blooming. Then they throw up a flowering mast that can top 12 metres, set seed and die. Their leaf spines are so tough that ancient peoples used them as sewing needles.
Agave is a genus of succulent monocots from the dry regions of the Americas, known for big rosettes of stiff, fleshy leaves. Most species are monocarpic: each rosette flowers once and then perishes, though a few flower repeatedly. The name comes from Greek agauos, meaning illustrious or noble, a nod to the towering flower spikes. In Mexico that stalk is called a quiote, and Agave salmiana can grow one much taller than 12 metres.
Every part is built for drought. Shallow networks of rhizomes catch water from rain, condensation and dew. Waxy coatings on the leaves slow evaporation, and the leaves themselves store the plant's water, guarded by toothed edges and a vicious terminal spine. The sap is acidic. Blooming high, some up to 9 metres, keeps flowers beyond the reach of hungry animals. Many species also clone themselves, sending up suckers at the base that take over when the parent dies; the octopus agave produces hundreds of pups on its flower stalk alone.
Agaves resemble aloes, cacti and stonecrops, but the likeness is convergent evolution. Cacti and stonecrops are eudicots, while aloes and agaves are monocots in separate families. The genus has had a restless classification since Linnaeus named it in 1753 with four species, Agave americana first among them. It has been placed in the lily family, in its own family Agavaceae, and within the asparagus family; by 2020 Agavaceae had regained independent status.
Several factors keep the group messy: rapid diversification roughly 8 to 10 million years ago, easy hybridisation even between genera, and long generation times. Many named species may simply be cultivated variants. The plants go by many names worldwide. Spanish speakers use maguey for large-leaved plants in this family, and maguey flowers are eaten in many indigenous cuisines of Mesoamerica. Chinese, Japanese and Korean all call the agave a 'dragon tongue orchid'.
Source: Agave
