Use this forum to discuss matters relating to Agave, Beschorneria, Furcraea, Hesperaloe, Hesperoyucca, Manfreda, Polianthes, Yucca and related species. This is where one posts unknown plant photos for ID help.
A little over a year ago I came across this agave (photos below) at a big box store for under $6 and it followed me home. It was labeled as Agave parrasana, from grower Altman Plants. But, this doesn't really fit my novice notion of A. parrasana.
I understand that there seems to be a long history of agaves being mis-labeled as "Agave parrasana". And that these mis-labeled plants are often a cross or cultivar of unknown heritage commonly referred to as "Confederate Rose" or "Desert Rose".
So either my notion of A. parrasana is wrong, or this plant might be a mis-labeled "Confederate Rose". However, nearly all descriptions of "Confederate Rose" that I've found describe it as a very prolific pupper, with plenty photos to back that claim up. This plant had no signs of any pupping activity when I transplanted it from its nursery pot, nor does it show any signs of pups over a year later.
This plant is about 10" wide. It has light green leaves tipped with a wavy terminal spine and edged with teeth that are smaller toward the base of the leaf. The spine and teeth are a dark brown on new leaves and fade to light brown or light gray on the older leafs. Both the front and back of each leaf show imprints.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on what you think that agave might be.
Agave
"American aloe plant," 1797, from Greek Agaue, proper name in mythology (mother of Pentheus), from agauos "noble," perhaps from agasthai "wonder at".
"Some talk the talk, others walk the walk, but I stalk the stalk"
You know, I hadn't thought about that before today, but as I was writing the initial post, that thought did cross my mind briefly. It does have a different form than my other A. parryi, but, as you well know, it is a highly variable species, and this plant is still quite young. Parryi crossed my mind when I described the terminal spine and I thought that the description could described both the spines on my A. parryi and A. parryi var.truncata. But I've heard so much about parrasana/confederate rose mis-labeling that the thought didn't really take hold. That would certainly explain the lack of pups!
Gee.S wrote:Looks like a little baby A. parryi, no?
Too funny. I picked one of these as well, also $5 give or take, some months back. Mine was labeled A. parryi I think? But, on reflection, they actually did have another pile of A. parrasana mislabeled as A. 'Confederate Rose' too. Not entirely sure what flavor of A. parryi this guy is, but I can show you what they look like without sufficient water. The one I picked up was bone dry and actually worse than this, which is a after repotting and a few doses of water. Now it looks pretty much like your photo.
One thing that throws me from A. parryi, though, is that I usually think of A. parryi with straight leaves. In my OP, the second photo, 0330, you can see several leaves that are recurved, curved backwards. I don't recall seeing this on other A. parryi. Could this just be characteristic of a young A. parryi, environmental conditions, natural variability, hybridization, all of the above? Contrast my photo with DesertDweller's photo, which shows no recurved leaves.
DesertDweller, I too, have seen several of what I believe to be A. parrasana mislabeled as A. 'Confederate Rose' in the last few months at 4 nearby big box stores.
Looks like it's just stretching out to get more sun.
Agave
"American aloe plant," 1797, from Greek Agaue, proper name in mythology (mother of Pentheus), from agauos "noble," perhaps from agasthai "wonder at".
"Some talk the talk, others walk the walk, but I stalk the stalk"
DesertDweller - Yes, those are quite similar to mine.
Thanks guys for helping me confirm an id and turn my "parrasana" into a "parryi".
Now, for a second A. parrasana . . . This one I got about two weeks ago from a private seller. It had no identifying tag or label. The seller thought that it was A. parrasana.
Perhaps it is A. parrasana, but do I see some resemblance to A. colorata with the mammillate leaf edges?
Nor parrasana for sure, which has silky smooth leaves. A. colorata has very rough textured leaves.
Agave
"American aloe plant," 1797, from Greek Agaue, proper name in mythology (mother of Pentheus), from agauos "noble," perhaps from agasthai "wonder at".
"Some talk the talk, others walk the walk, but I stalk the stalk"
Gee.S wrote:Nor parrasana for sure, which has silky smooth leaves. A. colorata has very rough textured leaves.
The leaves on my plant do have a texture to them, but I would not describe them as "very rough".
Azuleja wrote:My A. colorata doesn't have really rough leaves. At least not at this small size. It looks similar to your plant though. It's the San Carlos Bay form.
Azuleja, your plant is nearly a spitting image of mine. Looks to be nearly the same size and age. I had to do a double take, thinking I was looking at photos of my plant.
Could someone post side-by-side pics of A parrasana & A colorata? I'm still learning to tell them apart. What I like most are the mammillate (new word for me!) species. A parrasana is less mammillate, right? A. parryi I pretty much have down & am learning to distinguish the varieties. I have two parrasanas (& one parrasana 'Fireball') but they're all still small.
Agave
"American aloe plant," 1797, from Greek Agaue, proper name in mythology (mother of Pentheus), from agauos "noble," perhaps from agasthai "wonder at".
"Some talk the talk, others walk the walk, but I stalk the stalk"
Viegener wrote:Could someone post side-by-side pics of A parrasana & A colorata? I'm still learning to tell them apart. What I like most are the mammillate (new word for me!) species. A parrasana is less mammillate, right? A. parryi I pretty much have down & am learning to distinguish the varieties. I have two parrasanas (& one parrasana 'Fireball') but they're all still small.
On this particular point, if I may threadjack only slightly, what's the consensus on the A. parryi variety shown in this thread by the OP, which seem to be the same as what I've shown? I am curious what an appropriate labeling would be, or if that's even possible to pin down at this stage. Any input would be welcome.
I wouldn't sweat it. You'd have to look pretty hard to find someone who has seen more A. parryi out in the netherwilds than this reporter. IMHO, A. parryi varieties represent a false construct; they're all pretty much the same. One exception is ssp. neomexicana, which sports a different inflorescence.
Here is a slightly more detailed response from a different but recent thread:
Gee.S wrote:First I would separate domesticate huachucensis from the naturally occurring pop in the Huachuca Mountains. The low elevation grassy plains domesticate pops all appear to be a single clone -- a large green wide leaved type that was almost certainly plucked from Huachuca. OTOH, the pop still at Huachuca demonstrates the same kind of variability as other A. parryi pops we've seen -- big, small, wide leaved, narrow leaved, green, blue -- they're all there. IMHO, v. couesii, v. parryi, and v huachucensis are essentially the same (particularly parryi and huachucensis), and the variety distinction is a fuzzy construct at best. That said, there is a general tendency to go from wider to narrower leaves as we travel south to north, but these express as percentages rather than clear distinctions, and simply represent normal variation within the species. Just my opinion, I have little doubt others would disagree.
Bottom line, no clue. A beautiful parryi like yours could have origins at Huachuca, Bagdad, any number of other sky islands across the state, even Sedona.
Agave
"American aloe plant," 1797, from Greek Agaue, proper name in mythology (mother of Pentheus), from agauos "noble," perhaps from agasthai "wonder at".
"Some talk the talk, others walk the walk, but I stalk the stalk"
Recently I've seen a lot of Agave parrasana appearing in the local BigBox stores. So maybe on my third try at getting an A. parrasana, I might have picked up the real thing. Did I get it right this time? It certain has the "silky smooth leaves" that Gee.S mentioned earlier in this thread. The form, coloration, spines, imprints look right to me. With at least 5 pups in this pot, I think I'll be putting this one in the ground and the pups in pots.
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As often, I did see some mislabeling at one BB. On one shelf they had a row of agaves with pots labeled "Agave parrasana", and over on the next shelf they had another row of agaves with pots labeled "Agave potatorum verschaffeltii". I did a double take and thought, "That can't be. These are identical to the parrasanas over there." I brought one of the A. parrasana labeled plants over and set it down next to the A. potatorum verschaffeltii labeled plants. They were identical in every way, shape, size, form, coloration, you name it, except for the label on the pot.
Yes, thank you, I am aware. The batches I've seen come through in the last few weeks are the first A. parrasana I've seen at BBs that appear to be mite free. Like you said they're usually "riddled" with them. I checked this one out real carefully, at least three times, and saw no signs of the critters. Although this one will soon be getting a dose of 4F in very near future just for good measure.
