Agave macroacantha

Agave macroacantha, the black-spined agave or large-thorned agave, is a species of succulent flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae naturally occurring in Oaxaca and also near the town of Tehuacan in the State of Puebla, Mexico.[3]

Not to be confused with Agave macrantha, a synonym of Agave mitis

Agave macroacantha
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily: Agavoideae
Genus: Agave
Species:
A. macroacantha
Binomial name
Agave macroacantha
Synonyms[1][2]

Description

Agave macroacantha produces a medium-sized leaf rosette that can be basal or can grow on a very short stem. Leaves are succulent, greyish green and up to 1.8 feet long at a maximum, ending in sharp black spines that are up to 1.2 inches long at the tips. Flowers are small, grey and red, growing in bunches on sturdy stems of up to 3 m (10 feet) in height.[4]

Cultivation

The plant prefers a dry, sunny and hot location for summer and from early autumn onwards a cooler, well-lit space. It likes regular watering in summer and only minimum watering in winter, and will fare well in a large pot with sparse, gravelly soil.[5][1][6]

In the UK this plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.[7]

References
  1. Cactus Art Nursery, Agave macroacantha viridis
  2. The Plant List, Agave macroacantha
  3. Zuccarini, Joseph Gerhard. Nova Acta Physico-medica Academiae Caesareae Leopoldino-Carolinae Naturae Curiosorum Exhibentia Ephemerides sive Observationes Historias et Experimenta 16(2): 676. 1833.
  4. Gentry, Howard Scott. Agaves of Continental North America. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1992.
  5. San Marcos Growers, Agave macroacantha
  6. Jurassic Garden.com: Agave macroacantha, image.
  7. "RHS Plantfinder - Agave macroacantha". Royal Horticultural Society. 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  • The Complete Encyclopedia of Succulents by Zdenek Jezek and Libor Kunte
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