Agave purpusorum?

[Cactifan800]

I managed to find this agave titanota lookalike labelled as Agave purpusorum.
It was modestly priced at $21, compared to the same sized isthmensis that is $207 .
Do you guys recognise this agave? Is it a offsetter? If not I'm thinking of going back and buying another one.
I quite like them.

[Bertrand]

Hello Cactifan800,
For me this agave looks like a A. Kerchovei,
Wait for an expert's advice
If you are looking for a FO 076 contact me by mp
Bertrand

[toditd]

Agave purpusorum is an old name (synonym) for Agave ghiesbreghtii. Might that be A. ghiesbreghtii? That doesn't seem to be out of the realm of possibility. A. ghiesbreghtii and A. kerchovei are very closely related.

[Gee.S]

A. purpusorum has been resurrected.

[Meangreen94z]

Yeah that looks like both of the agave I have that were labeled ghiesbreghtii/purpusorum. They are somewhat more common than Kerchovei in cultivation. Kerchovei has longer more narrow leaves typically.

[toditd]

A. purpusorum has been resurrected.

Oh those crazy taxonomists! Is this top secret information? I'm not able find even a shred of information on this.

[Bertrand]

Good morning all,
Today I have also found this Agave Purpusorum in France for 18 € for a diameter of 20, 22 cm under the same name.

Agave purpusorum.jpg (141.98 KiB) Viewed 4481 times

[Cactifan800]

That is pretty nice as well. I bought home a second one with bigger spine.

[agavegreg]

A. purpusorum has been resurrected.

Do you have a reference for this resurrection?

[agavegreg]

Yeah that looks like both of the agave I have that were labeled ghiesbreghtii/purpusorum. They are somewhat more common than Kerchovei in cultivation. Kerchovei has longer more narrow leaves typically.

Agave kerchovei lacks marginal teeth in the upper one-third or more of the leaf.

[Gee.S]

A. purpusorum has been resurrected.

Do you have a reference for this resurrection?

Folks posting pics and referencing the name on FB is all. Never heard of pursporum in my life until you and D. Serrano returned from first titanota excursion. May have been Serrano promoting it, not sure.

[Bertrand]

I found this information :

http://www.palmaris.org/html/agavghies.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Scientific name: Agave ghiesbreghtii Lemaire ex Jacobi (1864)
Synonym also used: Agave purpusorum which is actually the name of one of its forms.
Geographical origin: Four small grouped areas in southern Mexico and on the Mexico-Guatemala border.
Climate: It is a tropical species that does not tolerate gels well below -6 ° C.
Exposure: Full sun to partial shade.
Soil: Draining and rich.
Notes: Agave ghiesbreghtii is a beautiful species in the radiant harbor. It is easy enough to identify at a glance. Its leaves are slender, widened in the middle, concave, bordered all around the margin of a continuous hazel color with beautiful spines regularly spaced sometimes reduced or absent. The margins and teeth are hazel-colored towards the top of the leaf, whitish towards the base. The terminal spine, tapered, canaliculate, is also hazel color. The margin may be more or less wide and whitens completely with the age of the leaf. The color of the plant is often bright green or yellow green. The central axis of the leaves is sometimes marked on the upper side of a lighter band. Some subjects are dark green or even glaucous. Agave ghiesbregthii rejects and can give colonies.
Agave ghiesbreghtii is close to Agave triangularis and Agave horrida perotensis. The 3 species seem to constitute a complex of species in which the diversity of the forms erases somewhat the specific borders ...
Agave ghiesbreghtii prefers to be grown in rich, draining soil in poor sandy soil. Agave ghiesbregthii purpusorum can be confused with certain Agave horrida species, especially its subspecies perotensis (perhaps by the way, they are 2 names for the same population). Agave horrida is a very close species (same tribe of Marginatae). Its rosettes usually have more leaves.
It cirdule a number of clones, forms and cultivars under various uncontrolled denominations ... Agave ghiesbreghtii f. purpusorum has pale green to gray triangular leaves. Agave ghiesbreghtii f. leguana (?) seems to be a green-blue clone of Agave ghiesbreghtii f. purpusorum. Agave ghiesbreghtii cv compacta has dense spination. it is a small form that rejects willingly. Agave ghiesbreghtii f. inermis does not have a marginal tooth and has slender leaves.
Agave ghiesbreghtii belongs to the tribe of Marginatae with Agave lechuguilla, Agave lophantha, Agave kerchovei, Agave horrida, Agave funkiana, Agave titanota, etc ...

[agavegreg]

As far as I know, A. purpusorum is still considered a synonym of A. ghiesbreghtii. They could very well be two separate species but that is going to take some investigating. I'm all over it.

[Cactifan800]

If you are looking for a FO 076 contact me by mp
Bertrand

Sorry I missed this post. Thanks for your offer, but it's nearly impossible to send plants to my country.

As for FO 76, I have Agave titanota 'compacta' that fits the description of FO 76. What do you think?

[agavegreg]

The plant pictured in post 14 are Agave oteroi, formerly known as Agave FO-076 and are not Agave titanota. It is unfortunate that those plants initially sold as Agave FO-076 have been somehow lumped in with Agave titanota. They are two distinct species whose ranges do overlap at the fringes of each and hybridize resulting in a wide variety of intermediates. Those two species also grow with, and hybridize with, Agave kerchovei which then results in even more intermediates. This is especially the case along the Rio Hondo which forms part of the border between Oaxaca and Puebla, an easy spot from which to collect seed. However, if one were to hike back into the side canyons of the Rio Hondo, and away from the hybrid zone, to collect seed, the result would be plants that are undoubtedly more pure and true to type.

[FriskyDingo]

The plant pictured in post 14 are Agave oteroi, formerly known as Agave FO-076 and are not Agave titanota. It is unfortunate that those plants initially sold as Agave FO-076 have been somehow lumped in with Agave titanota. They are two distinct species whose ranges do overlap at the fringes of each and hybridize resulting in a wide variety of intermediates. Those two species also grow with, and hybridize with, Agave kerchovei which then results in even more intermediates. This is especially the case along the Rio Hondo which forms part of the border between Oaxaca and Puebla, an easy spot from which to collect seed. However, if one were to hike back into the side canyons of the Rio Hondo, and away from the hybrid zone, to collect seed, the result would be plants that are undoubtedly more pure and true to type.

Love hearing insights like these. Fascinating stuff!

[grahampfe]

As far as I know, A. purpusorum is still considered a synonym of A. ghiesbreghtii. They could very well be two separate species but that is going to take some investigating. I'm all over it.

Did you ever get to the bottom of this?

[agavegreg]

The problem is that the taxon called A. ghiesbreghtii was collected from Mexico without locality information, so determining which plants in habitat fit the modest original description is very difficult. I have a theory that I am still pursuing.

[RCDS66]

This agave was sold to me as A. purpusorum. It quite resembles the agave in post 1 and has actually more greyish leaves than what is visible in the photo. I really like the upright formation of leaves and ferocious looking spines.
Two years have passed since the last post by agavegreg. So what is the latest on the status of this agave? It is quite similar to A. ghiesbreghtii but there are differences. A. ghiesbreghtii is more fresh green and usually has feint light yellow line running through the center of the leaves which is missing in this agave. Moreover, this agave has greyish leaves. Leaves of this agave sold as A. purpusorum are apparently more upright and have a longer terminal spine.
I can see that there is no thread for A. purpusorum in the gallery and there is no mention of A.purpusorum in the thread "Reference: Agave Species by Group" which means it is not a recognised specie / ssp yet. So what should we call this agave? I have seen the name A. ghiesbreghtii var. purpusorum being used on the web!!
Experts, please advise.