The Unknown Agave Thread

[Gee.S]

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[DesertDweller]

Interesting. I wonder how it would look with better care, and I guess now that you own it you'll get to find out!

Normally I'd have already potted it up to better accommodations and yanked the dead leaves to clean it up, but figure I should give it a bit of quarantine. In rough shape, many tend to have burn marks on the leaves, right about where you'd expect to see mite marks. I could assume it's nothing, since it's growing and more likely neglect, but I prefer not to assume.

I will definitely add some better pics once I get it cleaned up. Wish they had more of these, they are cool looking.

[Azuleja]

Yes, it's cool looking. I like it. Must have taken a while to get that big.

[DesertDweller]

earhook 002.JPG

At first glance, sorta reminds me of those 'Huasteca Giant' things, which I guess are an A. ovatifolia hybrid? Mine are still very green like this.

[Azuleja]

My Huasteca Giant plants are looking like this. I saw some at a nursery this summer that looked the same. Desert Dweller, are yours this light green?

[DesertDweller]

My Huasteca Giant plants are looking like this. I saw some at a nursery this summer that looked the same. Desert Dweller, are yours this light green?

Mine look more the shade of green in Gees' photo above. Reminds me more of montana than genryi. They don't get much sun at the moment though, so that could be part of the reason. Will try to find a photo or two.

[Melt in the Sun]

Azuleja - mine looks about like that; pretty light green. I'll try to get a picture soon.

[agavegreg]

With that slight curve in the leaf and the concave aspect, the plant pictured in post 126 appears to be more like A. salmiana. A. montana leaves would be flatter.

[Agave_fan]

On Page 4 post #96 of this thread I posted photos of an unknown plant that looked like lechuguilla with teeth that looked more like difformis. Leaves were larger than described for lechuguilla -3' in height with a slight blueish tint to the green. Although the plant sits outside a window I look out multiple times daily, I did not notice the flower stalk until it was almost 4'. I swear it went up overnight!

I am posting some photos taken on the day I discovered it and a week later where it has now more than doubled in size.

The base of the plant also has two smaller sprouty thingies (take deep breaths and just embrace my technical terms) that look like asparagus versions of the main flower stalk?

The stalk is so far pointing me to lechguilla but I haven't seen any quite like what I have in the leaf length, narrowness, color and teeth and I am sad that this stalk means the end of my lovely unique (to me) plant. Am I the only one that cannot see past the death that awaits ahead to enjoy the beauty of this event? I literally cringe when I see these damn blooms.

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[Gee.S]

Yeah, it's always fun when someone else's Agave blooms!

[toditd]

Am I the only one that cannot see past the death that awaits ahead to enjoy the beauty of this event? I literally cringe when I see these damn blooms.

I'm just the opposite. I haven't been growing agaves long enough to have one bloom yet. And I keep asking, "When is one these damn things gonna bloom?" Probably not for several more years...sigh...

[mcvansoest]

For me, when those giant weberi's that the house came with when we moved in 10 years ago bolted, it gave me lots of excitement - all of a sudden so much space to plant other things. The xylonacantha that is doing its thing right now is giving me some more regret as I feel I did not get to enjoy it as long as I had hoped - but I got it as a pretty big plant - though I do have two good sized replacements ready to go in the ground. I also think my A. vilmoriniana is not that far off, but the rest of them I think I got quite a bit of time to wait...

[Agave_fan]

Ok, so maybe I have some answers now on my mystery plant. First a couple new photos of the flowering progress:

The stalk is between 13-15' high now.

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The flowers look like they might open soon:

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Even the little racemes are budding:

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This plant has had me perplexed since I purchased it. Lechuguilla never quite fit (not even size), nor did difformis. After researching what I was seeing with my plant against descriptions of similar plants for the last six months, my top three 'guesses' for this plant in order were: Kerchovei, albomarginata and then lechuguilla. So armed with plenty of photos, I went back to where I purchased the plant, Desert to Tropics in Del Valle, TX, and talked to the owner, Jay.

Desert to Tropics is a large nursery that is mostly wholesale. I have been going there for over ten years and Jay started the business over 20 years ago. He has a lot of large commercial buildings but he also has plenty of large landscaping cactus outside, some of which seem to get lost in the shuffle. This is how I came by this plant to begin with, it was laying sideways half imbedded in the soil, looking more dead than alive at the time as none of the old dead leaves were removed over the years.

Before I showed Jay the photos, I told him I picked up a plant last year that he had laying around (literally) in the yard for many years and I was trying to figure out what it was and had three guesses at it's ID. I told him my guesses before showing him the photos and he smiled saying he was surprised I actually nailed the ID as the plant is not seen much in the trade. He actually remembered the plant so before even seeing photos, he described it perfectly and stated that it was indeed the plant at the top of my list, an agave kerchovei. He said that they are not very common but he had picked up a few of them many years ago. I informed him that mine was blooming so I was desperate to find another one and showed him the photos and surprisingly, he reiterated what I heard from someone working there when I purchased the plant, that this plant may not die after blooming??

Interestingly, as noted in my original post on this plant, the site manager at the time of sale last year informed me that this very plant had sent up a huge spike a couple years back. I honestly did not put much weight on this information at the time as this is a large nursery and I just assumed the guy was confused on what bloomed when but when Jay mentioned that my plant might not die as he has seen these bloom without dying, I got a slight tinge of hope. I should have asked Jay if he ever saw this specific plant blooming but I was so excited to hear that it might not die that I forgot to even ask. Hmmm... could this possibly be true? I have heard that some species will live after blooming but I always understood this as the plant remaining a live, not thriving. Do you think that it is possible that this plant might not only survive blooming, it could bloom more than once?

As I am seeing some discoloration on the tips of most of the leaves (not sure where death starts, base or leaves?), I am not holding my breath that this plant will survive the flowering process but the fact that two people that have worked with agaves for dozens of years have informed me that this plant does not always die after blooming is interesting.

I was told that there might be a couple more of these laying around somewhere so I thoroughly searched the entire facility and discovered what I think are two more neglected smaller (18") plants, possibly pups from the one I have now so I grabbed them both. The owner had already left so I could not verify that the two plants I found were indeed the same but they are similar enough that I purchased them hoping for the same plant. One was riddled with fire ants and the person helping me accidentally snapped it off at the base trying to deal with the ants but I am hoping to let it dry a bit, dip the end in a little Clonex rooting gel and hope for the best. The break went up into the base so there might be too much damage for it to survive. Here is a picture, if anyone has any ideas on how to handle this, please let me know.

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The photos I have seen of agave kerchovei have varied quite a bit with some not looking at all like the plant I have and some spot on such as some of those at Huntington Gardens and San Antonio Botanical gardens. Compared with photos and details on the plant anatomy and size, I feel more comfortable with kerchovei than any other species, especially with Jay stating this is what he had and I purchased.

While I know that it is very likely this plant will die after blooming, I now feel a bit better having two possible smaller ones to start and also a name to now search out a replacement if the two I have fail to survive.

[KLC]

^^^That will root.

[Agave_fan]

^^^That will root.

Awesome thanks!!!!

[Gee.S]

It might, but I doubt it....

[Agave_fan]

It might, but I doubt it....

Because it cracked off up inside rather than a cleaner straight across break?

[KLC]

Pure pumice and water twice daily is how I'd approach it.

[DesertDweller]

It might, but I doubt it....

Ones I've had like this, I have had -some- success, but it took a loooong time to root. Can't hurt to try, especially with rooting hormone or such, but I wouldn't expect anything anytime soon. worth a shot though.

[Melt in the Sun]

I think it will too. As long as the leaves aren't all unraveling (meaning the core is broken off) it should be fine.

[Agave_fan]

Thanks to all that replied! Although the break extended up inside the core, the leaves are not unraveling so going to give this a shot.

[Agave_fan]

The flowers on my unknown suspected to be kerchovei finally started to open this morning.

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[Gee.S]

Here is a shot of my A. difformis that bloomed a couple years back. I see these around the area as garden plants here and there.

[Agave_fan]

I love difformis. If I had some in bloom, I would try to cross with this one as I would love to see a 3' difformis cross offspring.

[Gee.S]

Pics from Post #96 are nearly identical, though mine is more blue and highly cespitose. I have another similar Agave that is green like yours, but it gets bigger, at least 6' across. Not always easy to tell one Marginatae from another, all you can really do much of the time is guess with no provenance. With that in mind, I would guess your plant is A. difformis.