Reference: Agave Species by Group

[Gee.S]

Littaea

Amolae
A. attenuata
A. bakeri
A. chrysoglossa
A. manantlanicola
A. martaelenae
A. nizandensis
A. ocahui
A. ocahui v. longifolia
A. pedunculifera
A. servandoana
A. spicata
A. vazquezgarciae
A. vilmoriniana

Choritepalae
A. bracteosa
A. ellemeetiana
A. guiengola
A. gypsicola
A. infiernilloensis
A. muxii
A. rosalesii

Filiferae
A. colimana
A. filifera
A. geminiflora
A. ×leopoldii
A. microceps
A. multifilifera
A. ornithobroma
A. schidigera

Heteracanthae (Marginatae)
A. albomarginata
A. angustiarum
A. arcedianoensis
A. calciphila
A. chazaroi
A. convallis
A. difformis
A. ensifara
A. funkiana
A. garciaruizii
A. garciae-mendozae
A. ghiesbreghtii
A. ×glomeruliflora
A. horrida ssp. horrida
A. horrida ssp. perotensis
A. impressa
A. kerchovei
A. lechuguilla
A. lophantha
A. megalodonta
A. nickelsiae
A. oteroi
A. ×peacockii
A. pelona
A. pintilla
A. potrerana
A. ×pumila
A. quiotepecensis
A. titanota
A. triangularis
A. victoriae-reginae
A. xylonacantha

Parviflorae
A. felgeri
A. parviflora
A. polyanthiflora
A. schottii
A. schottii v. treleasei
A. toumeyana
A. toumeyana v. bella

Polycephalae
A. chiapensis
A. gomezpompae
A. mitis
A. mitis v. albidior
A. obscura
A. pendula
A. salomonii
A. warelliana
A. wendtii

Striatae
A. albopilosa
A. cremnophila
A. cryptica
A. dasylirioides
A. gracielae
A. kavandivi
A. petrophila
A. rzedowskiana
A. striata
A. striata ssp. falcata
A. stricta
A. tenuifolia

Urceolatae
A. utahensis v. utahensis
A. utahensis v. eborispina
A. utahensis v. nevadensis
A. utahensis ssp. kaibabensis


Agave

Americanae
A. americana ssp. americana
A. americana ssp. protoamericana
A. americana v. expansa
A. americana v. oaxacensis
A. asperrima ssp. asperrima
A. asperrima ssp. maderensis
A. asperrima ssp. potosiensis
A. asperrima ssp. zarcensis
A. franzosinii
A. lurida
A. neglecta
A. oroensis
A, scaposa
A. weberi

Antillanae
A. acicularis
A. anomala
A. antillarum v. antillarum
A. antillarum v. grammontensis
A. cajalbanensis
A. eggersiana
A. grisea
A. harrisii
A. intermixta
A. legrelliana
A. longipes
A. missionum
A. portoricensis
A. shaferi
A. sobolifera
A. underwoodii

Antillares
A. albescens
A. brittoniana ssp. brachypus
A. brittoniana ssp. brittoniana
A. brittoniana ssp. sancti-spirituensis
A. jarucoensis
A. papyrocarpa ssp. macrocarpa
A. papyrocarpa ssp. papyrocarpa
A. tubulata
A. willdingii

Bahamanae
A. acklinicola
A. bahamana
A. braceana
A. cacozela
A. indagatorum
A. millspaughii

Campaniflorae
A. aurea
A. aurea v. capensis
A. aurea ssp. promontori

Caribaeae
A. barbadensis
A. brevipetala
A. brevispina
A. caribaeicola
A. dussiana
A. karatto
A. wallisii

Conicae
A. avellanidens
A. gigantensis
A. moranii
A. turneri

Crenatae
A. bovicornuta
A. calodonta
A. cupreata
A. hookeri
A. inaequidens
A. inaequidens ssp. barrancensis
A. jaiboli
A. maximilliana

Deserticolae
A. cerulata ssp. cerulata
A. cerulata ssp. dentiens
A. cerulata v. nelsonii
A. cerulata ssp. subcerulata
A. deserti v. deserti
A. deserti v. simplex
A. margaritae
A. mckelveyana
A. pringlei
A. sobria ssp. frailensis
A. sobria ssp. roseana
A. sobria sp. sobria
A. subsimplex

Ditepalae
A. applanata
A. chrysantha
A. colorata
A. delamateri
A. durangensis
A. flexispina
A. fortiflora
A. murpheyi
A. palmeri
A. phillipsiana
A. shrevei ssp. shrevei
A. shrevei ssp. magna
A. shrevei ssp. metapensis
A. temacapulinensis
A. verdensis
A. wocomahi
A. yavapaiensis

Hiemiflorae
A. atrovirens
A. atrovirens v. mirabilis
A. congesta
A. guadarramae
A. hiemiflora
A. hurteri
A. lagunae
A. isthmensis
A. nussaviorum
A. nussaviorum v. deltoidea
A. pachycentra
A. parvidentata
A. potatorum
A. seemanniana
A. seemanniana ssp. pygmae
A. thomasae
A. wercklei

Inaguenses
A. inaguensis
A. nashii

Intermediae
A. azurea
A. vizcainoensis

Marmoratae
A. grijalvensis
A. gypsophila
A. kristenii
A. marmorata
A. nayaritensis
A. valenciana
A. zebra

Parryanae
A. guadalajarana
A. ×gracilipes
A. havardiana
A. ovatifolia
A. parrasana
A. parryi v. couseii
A. parryi v. huachucensis
A. parryi v. parryi
A. parryi v. truncata
A. parryi ssp. neomexicana

Rigidae
A. aktites
A. angustifolia
A. breedlovei
A. cantala
A. ×cavanillesii
A. datylio
A. datylio v. vexans
A. decipiens
A. fourcroydes
A. karwinskii
A. kewensis
A. macroacantha
A. panamana
A. rhodacantha
A. sisalana
A. stringens
A. tequilana

Salmianae
A. gentryi
A. mapisaga
A. mapisaga v. lisa
A. montana
A. salmiana
A. salmiana v. ferox
A. salmiana ssp. crassispina
A. tecta

Sisalanae
A. desmettiana

Umbelliflorae
A. sebastiana
A. shawii ssp. goldmaniana
A. shawii ssp. shawii

Vicinae
A. arubensis
A. boldinghiana
A. cocui
A. cundinamarcensis
A. evadens
A. petiolata
A. rutteniae
A. vicina

[Jkwinston]

Hi

Do explain why A desmettiana is the only member of the Sislanae Group, and A sislana is elsewhere. Jkw

[Gee.S]

Look through Gentry for the original grouping, then understand that it was revised (Ulrich?), and look where all the old members wound up, some in Americanae, some in Rigidae. A. desmettiana apparently didn't fit either group, so it was left to fend for itself.

[Arizona Agave]

Thanks for posting this Ron, very interesting. Martin

[Gee.S]

It is interesting to see which Agaves are most closely related to each other. For the record, there are a few Agave group pairings I don't agree with at all. These include A. pelona, A. chazaroi, and A. guadalajarana, among others.

[Gee.S]

Revised per Webb & Starr, Hasletonia 2015.

[Luc]

Agave manantlanicola is not represented here in the list of the Amolae ?

[Gee.S]

Added.

[Shmuel]

Very cool! What is the difference between Littae and Agave?

[Spination]

They are sub-genus, and the grouping criteria is spicate flowering for Littaea, and paniculate for Agave.

[Minime8484]

Agave kavandivi (Garcia-Mendoza & Chavez-Rendon 2013) - one of my favorites - is missing from the list.

[Viegener]

Yes, one of mine too. Got one last year from Arid Lands, hoping to post pics soon.

[Gee.S]

OK, we fixemup!

[Minime8484]

One more, same group: Agave gracielae (Galvan & Zamudio, 2013)

[Gee.S]

Never heard of it, but OK, I'll take your word.

[Brooksphilly]

Wow, this is so informative. As others have said, very much appreciate your effort to post it.

Curious, G, would you have placed guadalajarana in marginatae and taken pelona and chazaroi out?

[Gee.S]

Pelona, chazaroi, impressa, and potrerana all out of Marginatae. A. guadalajarana belongs in Hiemiflorae as it currently stands (more like potatorum, less like parryi).

[Viegener]

So where do pelona, chazaroi, impressa, and potrerana belong now?

[Gee.S]

Lot easier to say what something is not, than is... Marginatae is in serious need of a complete revision.

[Viegener]

Hmm & people think healthcare is a mess

[Gee.S]

If you think about Marginatae, you can divide it into groups, and some of these groups seem more related than others. And this by vegetative characteristic, which seem more meanigful in Marginatae than other Agaves because of similar/overlapping floral characteristics.

There is no scientific basis for my grouping below, but it reflects the inane Marginatae rumblings in my mind. I have no trouble at all with the notion of booting the last three groups out of Marginatae altogether. In the end, a revision is probably too big a bone to chew, and will never get done...


Horrida Group
A. garciae-mendozae
A. ghiesbreghtii
A. angustiarum
A. horrida ssp. horrida
A. horrida ssp. perotensis
A. triangularis

Kerchovei Group (part of Horrida Group?)
A. kerchovei
A. titanota
A. convallis

Lophantha (univittata) Group
A. albomarginata
A. difformis
A. ensifara
A. funkiana
A. lechuguilla
A. lophantha
A. xylonacantha

Nickelsiae Group
A. victoriae-reginae
A. pintilla
A. nickelsiae

Pelona Group
A. chazaroi
A. pelona
A. potrerana

WTF Group
A. impressa

[Brooksphilly]

FYI...I found this on chazaroi at the San Marcos Growers site:

Of particular interest to this post (I don't know how to bold it below): "It has been placed by some in the Agave subsection of Serrulatae (with Agave bracteosa) or the Amolae (with Agave attenuata) while others believe this may be the same as a plant described by Joseph Hooker in 1903 as Agave bakeri, a name previously used for Agave karwinskii and so deemed illegitimate and renamed a year later by Alwin Berger to Agave gilberti."

Agave chazaroi - A beautiful and recently described species of Agave that was discovered near Tequila, Jalisco, Mexico at around 3300. It forms relatively open rosettes to 5 feet wide with broad stiff glossy deep green young leaves, broadest in the middle, with slightly wavy narrow reddish brown margins - older leaves a paler yellow green. Young plants have small spines along the leaf margins but aside from the terminal spine, the mature leaves are nearly spineless, with only small teeth-like spines near the leaf base. At maturity is produced a tall unbranched spike of flowers. This plant is so new that we are just guessing at its cultural needs. Its native Jalisco has a semi-arid climate with little annual temperature fluctuations and a dry winter when temperatures are slightly cooler. To determine how best to grow this species we have plants in different locations at our nursery and so far a plant in our full coastal sun with no protection to the light frosts we have had so far has shown promising results - likely it will need some shade and frost protection away from the coast. This new plant was named for Mexican botanist Miguel Cházaro-Basañez and described by J. Antonio Vázquez-Garcia & Oscar Valencia-Pelayo in 2007. It has been placed by some in the Agave subsection of Serrulatae (with Agave bracteosa) or the Amolae (with Agave attenuata) while others believe this may be the same as a plant described by Joseph Hooker in 1903 as Agave bakeri, a name previously used for Agave karwinskii and so deemed illegitimate and renamed a year later by Alwin Berger to Agave gilberti. The debate goes on regarding this but from our inexperienced position these plants appear to be different. Our plants are from seed collected by Miguel Chazaro at Canyon of the Rio Grande Santiago, North of Tequila, Jalisco. Our thanks to Brian Kemble of the Ruth Bancroft Garden for sharing this seed with us.

[Gee.S]

More authoritative sources place it in Marginatae. Check agavaceae.com.

[Brooksphilly]

Thanks, G. I am so new to these online agave resources that I am not sure what is most credible. Thanks for the tip and hope I did not mislead anyone with this information.

[Minime8484]

Another to add to the ever-expanding Striatae group: Agave cremnophila from Oaxaca.

Thanks to our resident expert, Greg Starr & friends (2018 CSSA Journal Vol 90, No 1)