Angiosperms (Flowering Plants) • Earth.com

Octopus agave

(Agave vilmoriniana)

galery
en

Description

Agave vilmoriniana (Synonyms: Agave eduardi) sometimes misspelled vilmoriana, and popularly known as Octopus agave, is a species of agave endemic to Mexico. It is known for its untoothed arching and twisting leaves. Wild plants had been found in 1899 by Joseph Nelson Rose near Guadalajara, Jalisco. The species was named by Alwin Berger in 1913 in honor of Maurice de Vilmorin, based on specimens collected by Leon Diguet and grown at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris In nature, the octopus agave prefers the cliffs of barrancas of southern Sonora, Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Jalisco, Durango, Nayarit and Aguascalientes, typically between elevations of 600 to 1,700 meters Agave vilmoriniana has one of the highest concentrations of the sapogenin smilagenen, and in parts of Mexico the leaves are cut, dried, and the fibers are beaten to make them into a brush with built-in soap. The "octopus agave" is cultivated as an ornamental plant for planting in gardens and containers. Agave is a genus of monocots native to the hot and arid regions of the Americas, although some Agave species are also native to tropical areas of South America. The genus Agave (from the Ancient Greek αγαυή, agauê) is primarily known for its succulent and xerophytic species that typically form large rosettes of strong, fleshy leaves. Agave now includes species formerly placed in a number of other genera, such as Manfreda, ×Mangave, Polianthes and Prochnyanthes. Many plants in this genus may be considered perennial, because they require several to many years to mature and flower. However, most Agave species are more accurately described as monocarpic rosettes or multiannuals, since each individual rosette flowers only once and then dies; a small number of Agave species are polycarpic. Maguey flowers are considered edible in many indigenous culinary traditions of Mesoamerica. Along with plants from the closely related genera Yucca, Hesperoyucca, and Hesperaloe, various Agave species are popular ornamental plants in hot, dry climates, as they require very little supplemental water to survive. Most Agave species grow very slowly. Some Agave species are known by the common name "century plant". The succulent leaves of most Agave species have sharp marginal teeth, an extremely sharp terminal spine, and are very fibrous inside. The stout stem is usually extremely short, which may make the plant appear as though it is stemless.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum:
Class: Liliopsida
Order:Asparagales
Family:Asparagaceae
Genus:Agave
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